Taiwanese Diablo III Player Dies After Marathon Session

In yet more Diablo III-related news, GameSpot is reporting that a Taiwanese man collapsed after a mammoth 40-hour gaming session over the weekend, and died shortly after. Tragically, this is not the first time that we’ve heard of players in the Eastern world passing on in cyber cafes. Considering the man didn’t stop to eat or sleep during that time period, I have to question whether this particular cafe’s owners were running their business responsibly.

According to the report, the 18-year-old man entered an Internet café in southern Taiwan around noon on Friday, booked a private room, and played almost two days without stopping to eat. On Sunday morning, an employee of the café entered the room to check on the man and found him resting on a table. Shortly after being roused, the man collapsed and was later pronounced dead at a local hospital.

As of press time, a Blizzard representative had not returned a request for comment.

This is far from the first time a marathon gaming session has ended in tragedy. The AAP reported that another Taiwanese man died in February after a 23-hour gaming jag ended with a heart attack. In 2007, a 30-year-old man collapsed and died in Guangzhou, China, after gaming for three straight days, In 2005, a 28-year-old South Korean man died after a 50-hour gaming session. In 2003, police in Hong Kong cited a six-hour stint playing Diablo II at an Internet café as a contributing factor in a 28-year-old man’s death. In 2002, a 24-year-old South Korean man died after 86 uninterrupted hours of gameplay. That same month, a 27-year-old Taiwanese man lasted 32 hours before succumbing to death by exhaustion.

Hopefully everyone still enjoying Diablo III will keep their gaming under control and remember to take breaks during those long weekend sessions.