[markus_zhang]

I can relate. I have been there. My parents made all decisions for me pre university and they had to let it go. Then hell broke and I didn't even got my diploma.

I don't think I ever recovered from that (now 40+). Once the damage has been done that's it for the whole life, however hard one tries, because you can't work hard for unknown objectives.

Right now I have everything clicked, family, good work, etc. But there is always a hole.

OP should aggressively pull back their support. Kick him out of home and let him feed himself. He will have to work and spend less on games. That's the only way to heal.

[HenryBemis]

This. When someone has to do their own laundry, and get a job that will keep them busy 8h-10h per day in order to pay rent, etc. the gears shift, priorities change. Even if he/she manages to find a flatmate (or become someone's flatmate) for lower cost of living, the reality will catch up with him/her (I'm not a pronouns-warrior, it's just the term "child" that is purposely vague).

I've been through my Diablo2, then MUD, then WoW addictions and I know the story from the inside. A j-o-b is the path forward.

Also, as Dave Ramsey frequently says, "don't give a drunk a drink", so.. do the thing that hurts-but-helps and cut him/her off (but do stay close and vigilant).

Also.. talk to some specialists/therapists with experience, they may also have some helpful (clinical/hands-on tips).

[mettamage]

I'm a counter example to this. I've stayed for a long time at my parents. I also had gaming addiction. My parents let me do whatever I wanted. In part, this was because they recognized that they didn't have the knowledge or wisdom to tell me what to do. All they could do was to provide me: love, food and a roof over my head. We all knew this.

One big difference though is that I come from a family of abuse and they scared the living hell out of me by showcasing all the addicts in our family and their educational obtainment. So for me, school was a flight to safety, despite being game addicted as well. At the time, game addiction wasn't a well understood thing. I barely scraped by in high school, but I got into university.

University felt much more like a game to me anyway, so I decided to gamify it and make a whole game out of it. Then studying at university became my addiction.

Oh, and I was still living at home all this time.