18 year old Chinese gamer Guo Quan went to a gaming cafe for a session that lasted 24 hours. On…
18 year old Chinese gamer Guo Quan went to a gaming cafe for a session that lasted 24 hours. On May 19, as Guo walked out of the cafe, he collapsed and stopped breathing. Emergency services arrived at the scene to revive Guo, but were unsuccessful in doing so.
Kotaku reports that Guo worked in a shoe factory and it is there that a colleague of his introduced him to gaming cafes and online games. It should be noted that China is a huge market for online games, with gaming cafes being successful businesses. Guo became addicted to playing long sessions and the fateful day wasn’t his first 24-hour gaming marathon either.
Following the collapse, Guo ended up brain dead and on life support. Yesterday, his parents made a tough decision to pull the plug. Not only that, but they donated his organs, which gave a new life to five other patients.
What Guo’s parents did was commendable, but we’ve recently seen an increase in cases of gaming marathons resulting in deaths. In 2011, Microsoft actually had to make a statement urging responsible gaming after a 20 year old British boy developed a fatal blood clot due to extended gaming sessions.
Gamers should always take regular breaks because the excess of anything can be harmful. Climbing on top of online leaderboards definitely isn’t worth your life so exercise caution where you can!