Videogames industry asks WHO to hold fire on ‘gaming disorder’

FILE PHOTO: A man dressed as a zombie plays video games on an Xbox One console during a midnight launch event in New York, November 21, 2013. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson/File Photo

GENEVA: Videogames are compelling, but does playing them too much constitute a medical condition? The gaming industry is trying to avoid "gaming disorder" becoming a formally recognised ailment.

The World Health Organisation (WHO), which has spent years looking into the addictive nature of videogames, put "gaming disorder" on its list of health problems last year, a decision set to be endorsed by governments in May, with potential impacts on, for example, healthcare policy and insurance.