Teen dies after 40 hour Diablo III gaming binge

The long-awaited Diablo III went live just about a month ago, shattering game sale records despite a number of launch related issues.

The game is once again making headlines in Taiwan where an 18-year-old teen only identified as “Chuang” passed away after a binge session of Diablo III that lasted nearly 40 hours.

According to reports, the teen booked a private room in an Internet café in Tainan, located in southern Taiwan at about noon on July 13.

Chuang then played Diablo III for nearly 2 days straight – without stopping to eat.

On July 15, an employee at the Internet Café entered the room where Chuang appeared to be sleeping on a table. The café worker woke the teen, who stood up and managed to walk a few steps before collapsing. Chuang was subsequently transported to a local hospital and pronounced dead shortly after his arrival.

Police are investigating the cause of death and have already performed an autopsy. Medical experts have speculated that long hours spent in a single sedentary position may have caused a deadly cardiovascular issue for the teen.

Unfortunately, Chuang’s death is not the first gamer related fatality in Taiwan this year. Back in February,  another gamer was found dead from cardiac arrest which occurred while he was playing a video game for 23 hours straight. And in 2007, a man from Northeastern China reportedly died after playing games for nearly a week.