I find this to be the most disturbing part. I have done a substantial amount of game development myself on the side, it's how I got into programming originally ~15 years ago. I say that because I find it demotivating sometimes to work on games that I think are fun and non-addictive. My wife will show me some simple addictive game on the phone and ask why I can't just make a knock-off version of that... I could, but at what cost?

Some part of me really wishes that "gambling" in games would finally get cracked down on to level the playing field for the rest of us.

I now have a 5 month old son and that has really amplified my thinking of the future. I will of course educate my children on the dangers of addictive games, etc. but what about others? It's sad, but also classic "think of the children!"

Half the "gamers" are on candy crush or supercell mindlessly clicking away, getting pavlovian salivations whenever some chest reward notification rings. With these numbers its an epidemic.

What is the difference between video game addiction and other screen related addiction?

Maybe the real world is so out of control, the virtual world is one of the few places you feel in control.