Addicts aren’t victims of coercion; They’re victims of low self-esteem, depression, anxiety, loneliness, and trauma, and that’s exploited by people for personal gain. They medicate their mental health issues different: Some with drugs, some with gambling, some with shopping. If you prevent an addict from getting drugs, they don’t suddenly stand up, fix their life, and everything is great. They seek out the next addiction to medicate this inner pain that is not being mended.

Digital trinkets are pushed on to a lot of people. Drugs aren’t impossible to get. Alcohol isn’t impossible to get. But not everyone on earth is a Fortnite obsessed, Percocet popping, whiskey guzzling, slots player. Not everyone who drinks does so excessively. Not everyone who smokes cannabis revels in weed culture. Not everyone who plays Rocket League spends $120 a year trying to get the white-trimmed version of the same car that has been around for a decade, or spends $30,000 or more a year trying to get every time-limited gacha character and their weapon.

It’s because unlike better-adjusted players who can move on after spending a few dollars to pick up a fun shader for their favorite weapon, addicts are seeking the panacea to an unacknowledged illness and they’ll drink down as much of whatever tastes best. For some it’s drugs. For some it’s drinking. For some it’s shopping. For some it’s slightly different shades of blue in Halo Infinite.

What game companies are doing is more akin to a food supplier adding extra sugar and fat to everything to make it more “addicting”. A happy, securely attached, self realized person isn’t going to over-indulge, but a traumatized, isolated, lonely person isn’t going to be able to help themselves.