StarCraft: 50 Hour Binge

On August 3, 2005, 28-year-old South Korean industrial boiler repairman Lee Seung Seop visited a nearby internet cafe and died on August 5, 2005 after playing StarCraft for almost 50 consecutive hours.

Background
A vocational-college graduate, Lee was described as a "skinny guy with glasses" and his death was one of the many factors leading to a higher public focus of gaming addiction and the computer gaming subculture.

Prior to his death, he had been recognized as a game addict by his family, friends and coworkers. Due to lack of adequate nutrition and sleep, he began to arrive at work late which prompted his firing. It was around this time (six weeks before his death) that he had broken up with his girlfriend, also an avid gamer.

During his session, Lee reportedly ate and drank very little while only leaving the computer for washroom breaks. When he failed to return home on Friday, his mother asked his colleagues to find him. When they discovered the internet cafe he was at, he told his friends that he would finish the game and return back home, only to die moments later. The internet cafe's atmosphere was "dimly lit and hazed from cigarrette smoke".

Aftermath
In his last moments, Lee fell from his chair and was rushed to a nearby hospital where it was concluded that the cause of his death was heart failure induced by exhaustion and dehydration.

His death (and others like it) convinced people, parents, the WHO and government powers to take a closer look at the ramifications of gaming addiction.