A lawsuit stemming from a 1997 stabbing death, in which the victim's mother blamed the violence on the game Mortal Kombat, has been dismissed by a Connecticut judge. The ruling states that video games are not considered products and are therefore not subject to product liability claims. Instead, the judge determined that Mortal Kombat, as a form of expression, is protected under the First Amendment.
Andrea Wilson, the mother of Noah Wilson, filed the complaint against Midway Games, the maker of Mortal Kombat, three years after her 13-year-old son was fatally stabbed by a friend identified as Yancy. Wilson alleged that her son and his friend had been playing Mortal Kombat together, and that Yancy, who believed he was the character Cyrax, used a signature move from the game to stab Noah. The lawsuit cited claims of product liability, unfair trade practices, loss of consortium, and negligent and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
According to The Day newspaper of New London, Noah Wilson was killed on November 22, 1997, while en route to see the film Mortal Kombat: Annihilation. Friends of the children reportedly found the knife and were playing with it prior to the incident, which Andrea Wilson had described as an accident. Yancy was subsequently arrested and charged with second-degree manslaughter.
Wilson contended that Mortal Kombat was a "virtual reality video game that uses sophisticated technology to make players physically feel as if they are killing the characters in game." She described Cyrax's headlock-to-stab maneuver and alleged that Yancy replicated it. Her complaint further stated that Yancy was "addicted" to the game and that Midway Games designed Mortal Kombat to "addict players to the exhilaration of violence, and specifically targeted to a young audience, intending to addict them to the game."
United States District Judge Janet Bond Arterton granted Midway Games' motion to dismiss the case, ruling that Mortal Kombat is not a product. "Mortal Kombat, as Wilson describes it, is protected by First Amendment speech," the judge wrote, concluding that Wilson failed to "state a claim upon which relief can be granted." Midway Games had argued that the definition of a "product" does not encompass "ideas or expression," asserting that Mortal Kombat falls into this category as a creative work. This stance was supported by previous legal precedents, including a case where TSR, Inc., the original maker of Dungeons & Dragons, was found not liable for a child's suicide.
In her arguments against the motion to dismiss, Andrea Wilson posited that Mortal Kombat represented a product combining expression and technology. The judge, however, countered that while Wilson argued Mortal Kombat was more than mere motion pictures or television, its interactivity did not warrant distinguishing it from technological advancements that led to the creation of cinema. "Even accepting Wilson’s allegations that Mortal Kombat caused violence and physical harm to be visited upon her son and despite the seemingly minimal utility of such depictions of violence, the First Amendment precludes Wilson’s action for damages unless Mortal Kombat’s images or messages are ‘directed to inciting or producing imminent lawless action and [be] likely to incite or produce such action,'" the judge stated.
Mortal Kombat has faced controversy since its 1992 release, largely due to its graphic violence and "fatality" finishing moves. The game's content was scrutinized by Connecticut senator Joe Lieberman, who previously advocated for bans on violent video games but acknowledged the protection afforded by the First Amendment. These discussions ultimately led to the establishment of the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB), with industry representatives agreeing to a standardized ratings system.