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Latin Times
Latin Times
Technology
Taylor Odisho

Florida child prodigy sued over video game he designed at age 11

A person plays a PlayStation 2 VR game. (Credit: Richard A. Brooks/AFP)

A 14-year-old boy from Central Florida is facing a lawsuit for creating an intentionally "addictive" game. He's being sued alongside tech giants Meta, Microsoft, and Roblox.

James Napier designed the game "Capuchin" when he was just 11 years old. His mother described the game to WESH 2 News as players chasing capuchin monkeys through different weather elements to collect points.

The lawsuit alleges Napier and the three tech companies aimed to maximize profits by consulting with experts to make the games as addictive as possible. It claims there was a "concerted effort to get consumers, minor game players addicted," a claim Napier's mother wholly denies.

"It was made in his room. He would show us different aspects of the game, so we knew what was going on step by step," his mother said to the news outlet.

She shared that the lawsuit has been stressful for her son especially since people "think that he would do something like this."

"It thwarts the creativity of other kiddos out there looking to create games and maybe do something similar," she added.

Although the teen planned on using profits from the game to pay for college, his mother told WESH 2 News he's now using that money to pay for his legal fees.

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