Are people getting divorced over Fortnite? Or does a UK divorce website deserve a medal for SEO trick of the year? Why not both? A Divorce-Online.co.uk press blast has been making the rounds on both gaming and mainstream news website over the last week for claiming that it’s “received 200 divorce petitions since January 1st 2018 where addiction to Fortnite and other online games has been cited as one of the reasons for divorce” – that’s about 5% of the petitions it says it’s handled in 2018. The company claims to be “one of the largest filers of divorce petitions in the UK.”
That probably won’t surprise longtime MMO veterans; I’d bet most folks who lived through the “EverCrack” stigma know at least one couple who split over a particularly engrossing game, or maybe more specifically allowed the game to be a catalyst in a relationship already struggling, and that was before online gaming had become so mainstream. This firm draws a line straight to addiction.
“[A]ddiction to drugs, alcohol and gambling have often been cited as reasons for relationship breakdowns but the dawn of the digital revolution has introduced new addictions. These now include online pornography, online gaming and social media, so it is no surprise to us that more and more people are having relationship problems because of our digital addictions.”
I think this comment thread calls for some juicy gossip.
