Winona Ryder and Depeche Mode Subpoenaed as Part of World of Warcraft Lawsuit
Winona Ryder and founder of Depeche Mode Martin Lee Gore have both been subpoenaed as part of a lawsuit against Activision Blizzard and their massively multiplayer online (MMO) game World of Warcraft which was filed by November 24th in the Civil Division of the Superior Court of California, County of Santa Clara by Erik Estavillo.
Among Estavillo’s complaints are that the game is designed to make players “walk or run at a calculated slow pace, resulting in the player taking longer to get where he or she needs to go in the game”, thus forcing the player to take longer to finish quests and thus the player having to purchase additional subscriptions to continue playing.
Estavillo has additionally stated that health problems, including OCD, Agoraphobia, Panic Disorder, major depression and Crohn’s Disease are because he “relies on video games heavily for the little ongoing happiness he can achieve in this life”.
Here is where Ryder and Gore come in. Estavillo has subpoenaed both of them to speak about his behalf regarding the subject of alienation. Gore is subpoenaed since “he himself has been known to be sad, lonely, and alienated as can be seen in the songs he writes.” Ryder is subpoenaed due to her interest in the J.D. Salinger book The Catcher in the Rye, which Estavillo also has a common interest in. Estavillo says that Ryder could “explain the significance of alienation in Catcher in the Rye and will also testify to how alienation in the book can tie to alienation in real live/video games such as World of Warcraft.”
Estavillo is seeking punitive damages of $1.0 million and a court order that Activision Blizzard implement changes in WOW that address the issues of his complaint.
