An 18-year old Diablo III player in Taiwan was found dead recently after a 40-hour marathon session with the game, the Australian Associated Press reported.


The player, who has only been identified as Chuang, reportedly booked a room at his local Internet café before diving into the game, not stopping for sleep or food the entire time. An employee of the café found him passed out on a table Sunday.

He woke up when approached, but collapsed after a few steps and was rushed to a hospital where he was later pronounced dead. An autopsy is pending, but authorities noted that the long period of sitting still could have created blood clots, which proved fatal.

It's not said to be the first game-marathon-related death in Taiwan this year. In February, Chen Rong-yuhad a fatal heart attack while playing in an Internet café in Taipei while playing online smash hit, League of Legends. Fellow players, though, didn't notice he had died for another nine hours.

Deaths in Internet cafes are rare, but happen from time to time when players concentrate so intensely on their games, that they ignore factors like the body's need for sleep and food.

Last year, a 30 year-old Chinese gamer died after staying up for three consecutive days, barely eating or drinking anything. And last August, 20 year-old Chris Staniforth suffered a pulmonary embolismafter a marathon session on his Xbox.

The deaths underscore the risk of game addiction, which more and more people are becoming worried about as the industry
grows.