The World Health Organization (WHO) has made what could wind up being a landmark decision when it comes to gaming. After months of consideration, “Gaming Disorder” has officially been declared an illness.

One hundred and ninety-four members of the WHO at the 72nd World Health Assembly in Geneva, Switzerland to determine whether or not Gaming Disorder should be included in the 11th revision of the International Statistical Classification Of Diseases and Related Health Problems (otherwise known as the ICD-11). After much deliberation, Gaming Disorder ended up making the cut.

Within the ICD-11, the WHO has classified Gaming Disorder as “a pattern of persistent or recurrent gaming behavior (‘digital gaming’ or ‘video-gaming’), which may be online (i.e., over the internet) or offline, manifested by:

  • impaired control over gaming (e.g., onset, frequency, intensity, duration, termination, context); increasing priority given to gaming to the extent that gaming takes precedence over other life interests and daily activities; and continuation or escalation of gaming despite the occurrence of negative consequences. The behavior pattern is of sufficient severity to result in significant impairment in personal, family, social, educational, occupational or other important areas of functioning.”

In order to make this decision, several health care professionals from various different disciplines were consulted with, and after reviewing all available evidence, the decision was made that calling it a disorder was legitimate.

Needless to say, there are many people within the industry who are not happy with the WHO’s decision. Members of several game trade bodies have opposed Gaming Disorder even being considered for the ICD-11 in the past, and now that it’s official, they’re calling for a re-examination and a re-consideration of their verdict.

Several bodies, including the ESA, the UKIE, and the ISFE, among others, released a joint statement regarding the disorder. They believe that “‘Gaming disorder’ is not based on sufficiently robust evidence to justify its inclusion in one of the WHO’s most important norm-setting tools.” They’re calling for further study, and are asking for WHO to postpone the inclusion of Gaming Disorder in the ICD-11 until more evidence has been gathered.

It is important to note that the ICD-11 is not legally binding. It is simply a report that tracks mortality and morbidity data and keeps track of known diseases and disorders. However, some professionals feel that Gaming Disorder doesn’t meet the criteria necessary to be included in the ICD and that excessive gaming is more of a symptom of a bigger problem rather than a real disorder in and of itself.

While the ICD-11 is not a legal document, by including Gaming Disorder, it could be used as ammunition by legislators, lawmakers, and politicians in the future when gaming-related bills are being voted upon. Recently, U.S. Republican senator Josh Hawley has been pushing for more regulations on loot boxes and pay-to-win micro-transactions. While there’s nothing necessarily wrong with that idea, as many have often complained about developers taking advantage of consumers with these tactics, it might not be long until another someone else tries to push more and more regulations on the gaming industry, using the ICD to help make their point.

It remains to be seen what will happen as a result of this ruling. It may not lead to much, but the fact that 194 medical professionals agreed that Gaming Disorder is a real thing could lead to trouble for the industry in the future. However, the revision won’t take effect until January 1, 2022, so there may still be plenty of time for the game trade bodies to convince the WHO to change its mind.