Celebs You Never Knew Were Addicted To Video Games

These days, AAA games can easily earn as much as (or even surpass) the biggest blockbuster films. Just as most people like movies, a significant portion of the population identifies as gamers. Release dates for anticipated games are celebrated just as much as premieres for feature films. Unlike movies, however, games demand more of their players' time. The average AAA, narrative-based title can unravel its story over 40 hours of gameplay. That's to say nothing of expansive MMORPGs like World of Warcraft. 

Anyone can find themselves in the grip of a video game addiction, even celebrities who have movies to film and PR events to attend. They avoid the real world by retreating into a digital one, ignoring responsibilities and even potentially missing out on important opportunities. Here are some celebrities who found themselves addicted to gaming.

Brandon Routh was a superhero before it was cool. He starred as none other than Superman in the 2006 film Superman Returns. Although he played the part wonderfully and certainly had the tall, strong, and handsome vibe required for the role, the Superman series didn't really get off the ground. Back before Marvel made superhero movies a thing, Superman Returns didn't become the hit Routh had hoped it would be. 

This came as a huge disappointment to Routh, who descended into Azeroth to escape his worldly woes. In a recent interview, Routh described his relationship with World of Warcraft at that time as an addiction, saying, "Thankfully, I guess, I didn't lean on drugs or alcohol. There is no beating [World of Warcraft]. It goes on forever as it's designed to do. And that was my therapy, air quotes. But it wasn't helping me. It was a coping mechanism." 

Routh further explained that it took him awhile to realize how he was using the game to lose himself, and that it wasn't healthy for him to do so. He now has control over this World of Warcraft addiction thanks to some soul searching and help from his wife.

Another Superman has also found himself in the unyielding grip of World of Warcraft. Henry Cavill, the Man of Steel himself, almost missed out on playing the part of Superman in Zack Snyder's 2013 reboot. He was too busy raiding in World of Warcraft to answer the phone, as it turns out.

While this doesn't necessarily speak to addiction, you can tell Cavill is a serious gamer. He has logged hundreds of hours in games like Total War: Warhammer 2. In an interview with GQ, he said he also uses gaming as an escape for the harried life of a celebrity. "At home, I get to sit playing games for ridiculous amounts of hours and escape there, because going outside has the opposite effect." 

How many hours count as "ridiculous?" In Cavill's case, he's played through Warhammer 2 six times over and he's played The Witcher 3 two-and-a-half times over. The former binge was just for fun, but the latter was part of his study for his role as Geralt of Rivia, the Witcher himself. At least he has the excuse of playing 200-some hours of The Witcher for work.

Felicia Day is an actress whose image centers on being a gamer, a geek, and an all-around nerd. She is perhaps best known for her work on The Guild, a web series based on a group of friends playing an MMORPG. The Guild spawned from her own antics and experiences playing, you guessed it, World of Warcraft. While World of Warcraft's neverending nature gave her plenty of material to work with for the show, it also hampered her personal and professional life.

In a 2007 blog post, Day described having to physically remove herself from BlizzCon to resist the siren call of the newest World of Warcraft expansion, Wrath of the Lich King. She said she knew that for her, World of Warcraft was way too immersive and had turned into a time sink. She had an addiction. "I saw my weekends slip away, my acting classes dropped, all in the quest to belong," confessed Day. "I wanted to play so bad, fool around on vent so bad, give my life up so bad."

Ultimately, she reminded herself of her goals and left Blizzcon early, stating that, while she keeps up with the game vicariously through friends, she will not be playing World of Warcraft anytime soon.