Video game addiction has officially been classified as a mental health disorder by the World Health Organization, prompting strong responses from individuals on both sides of the argument over whether or not video games are harmful to those that play them, at least in excess. Sony CEO Kenichiro Yoshida has also commented on the new classification, promising to take the issue seriously.

Speaking in an interview, Yoshida stated, "We need to take it seriously and adopt countermeasures," but he did not elaborate on what those countermeasures may be. "We've already implemented a ratings system (to restrict players by age) and have been taking measures based on our own standards," Y0shida said. PlayStation does offer a wide suite of parental controls that can be used to limit which content children can access and how long they can play in a single day, but it's unclear if Sony has additional plans to tackle the issue.

Of course, Sony does risk offending some of the PlayStation fanbase if they get too extreme with their countermeasures. Many people, specifically gamers, disagree with WHO's classification of video game addiction as a mental health disorder, citing some studies that have shown how gaming can improve mental health, so it's interesting that the issue gained so much traction so quickly.

That being said, anything in extreme excess is bad, and the classification really only applies to people that are being seriously affected by how often they play games, so the average gamer should never be diagnosed. It is good of Sony to take a stance on the issue, and arguably better that the company is acting rather than allow public perception of their platform to be diminished.

Sony CEO comments on WHO Disorder

It will be interesting to see how the company moves forward in the next few years, especially as the release of the PS5 grows nearer. Sony has confirmed that it will support the PlayStation 4 for three more years, and it now seems likely that at least some of that support will be geared toward addressing gaming addiction. While it's always possible that these are empty claims and Yoshida doesn't have any major plans to address the issue, it seems more than likely that at least some new features will be implemented for the problem.

Source: Kyodo News