A single option transaction in isolation is a zero sum game assuming linear utility of cash. Viewed as closed systems, options markets and futures can be considered zero sum ... but if they were truly closed systems, they wouldn't even exist.


However, the real world is an open (non-equilibrium) system, in which the financial markets are components. So even if we assume linear cash utility of real market participants, it can be a positive sum game because the hedger can now safely make more money from whatever opportunity he needs to hedge ... and in the real world, the hedger can make that money not by swindling it from suckers but by creating value (e.g., by manufacturing or providing services) so that both the hedger and those purchasing what the hedger creates benefit (even in terms of linear cash utility).