Table 1 Summary of cases

Case number

Case No. 0

Case No. 1

Case No. 2

Case No. 3

Case No. 4

Case No. 5

Case No. 6

Case No. 7

Case No. 8

Name

Jeff Dailey

Peter Burkowski

Kim Kyung-Jae

Seung Seop Lee

Zhang

“Chinese man”

Tim Eves

“Chinese man”

Chris Staniforth

Date of death

1981 January

1982.04.03

2002 October

2005.08.05

2007.02.24

2007.09.15

2009.03.04

2011 February

2011 May

Country

USA (Chicago)

USA (Chicago)

South Korea (Gwangju)

South Korea (Taegu)

Northern China (Jinzhou)

Southern China (Guangzhou)

UK (Hopton-on-Sea)

China (outskirts of Beijing)

UK (Sheffield)

Age

19

18

24

28

26

30

25

30

20

Gender

male

male

male

male

male

male

male

male

male

Game played

Berzerk

Berzerk

Mu

StarCraft

World of Warcraft

unknown

Wii Fit

unknown

Halo

Was it consecutive?

no

no

yes

yes

yes

yes

no

yes

yes

Length of gaming

unknown

less than 30 min

86 h

50 h

7 days

3 days

few hours?

3 days

often 12 h

Did he/she stand up during gaming?

playing standing

playing standing

paused only to purchase cigarettes and to use the bathroom

took only restroom breaks, ate and drank very little, had brief naps

stopping only for eating, toilet breaks, and a few hours of sleep

without considerable breaks

actively moving during the game

without eating and sleeping

unknown

Did he/she miss sleep?

no

no

yes

yes (2 days)

yes, had only few hours of sleeps

yes, minimal breaks

unknown

unknown

unknown

Was he/she gaming when he/she died?

unknown

after gaming

yes

yes

yes

yes

yes

yes

no

Did he/she eat/drink?

unknown

unknown

yes

very little

yes

unknown

unknown

 unknown

unknown

On what platform did he/she play?

arcade machine

arcade machine

PC

PC

PC

PC

Wii Fit games console

unknown

Xbox

Circumstances of death

unknown

He set up two top-ten scores in the game, then turned to another arcade machine, collapsed

unknown

He fell off his chair onto the floor; conscious with closed eyes. Died in hospital hours later

Parents witnessed him twitching and slumping over his computer screen. Resuscitation attempt was unsuccessful.

He fainted. Paramedics tried to revive him but failed.

He just returned from Portuguese a few hours before. Suddenly collapsed and died while jogging on the Wii Fit game.

lost consciousness

He collapsed after an interview at a JobCentre. Previously he was woken in the night by a ‘strange feeling’ in his chest

Suspected cause of death

unknown

heart attack

pulmonary embolism

heart failure

overwork and obesity

exhaustion

Sudden Arrhythmia Death Syndrome

unknown

deep vein thrombosis, pulmonary embolism

Location of death

arcade

arcade

internet café

internet café

at home

internet café

at home

internet café

JobCentre

Was he/she a game addict?

no

no

yes

yes

yes

unknown

unknown

unknown

yes

Other risk factors

unknown (some source report obesity)

no alcohol or drugs

smoking

unknown

extreme obesity (ca. 150 kg)

unknown

unknown

unknown

seems obese on his photo

History of diseases

unknown

autopsy found scar tissue on his heart, older than 2 weeks

unknown

wearing glasses

 unknown

unknown

unknown

unknown

no

Case number

Case No. 9

Case No. 10

Case No. 11

Case No. 12

Case No. 13

Case No. 14

Case No. 15

Case No. 16

Case No. 17

Name

Anna-Lee Kehoe

Chen Rong-Yu

Chuang

Chang

Wang

Chu

Hsieh

Wu Tai

Rustam

Date of death

2011.07.22

2012.02.01

2012.07.15

2013 August

2014 February

2015.01.01

2015.01.08

2015 March

2015.09.01

Country

UK (Bridport)

Taiwan (New Taipei City)

Taiwan (Tainan)

Taiwan (Hualien City)

Taiwan (Greater Kaohsiung)

Taiwan (New Taipei)

Taiwan (Kaoshiung)

China (Shanghai)

Russia’s Republic of Bashkortostan

Age

13

23

18

35

40

38

32

24

17

Gender

female

male

male

male

male

male

male

male

male

Game played

unknown

League of Legends

Diablo III

unknown

unknown

unknown

combat games

World of Warcraft

Defence of the Ancients

Was it consecutive?

unknown

yes

yes

yes

yes

yes

yes

yes

yes

Length of gaming

unknown

23 h

40 h

10 h

13 h

5 days

3 days

19 h

22 days

Did he/she stand up during gaming?

yes

unknown

unknown

unknown

unknown

yes

unknown

no

yes

Did he/she miss sleep?

unknown

little sleep in front of the monitor

yes

unknown

unknown

yes

yes, taking only naps sitting in the chair or laying on the desk

unknown

unknown

Was he/she gaming when he/she died?

yes

yes

no

probably

yes

no

yes

yes

yes

Did he/she eat/drink?

unknown

unknown

no

unknown

unknown

yes

unknown

no

yes

On what platform did he/she play?

Xbox

PC

PC

unknown

unknown

unknown

unknown

PC

PC

Circumstances of death

She stood up from gaming to say ‘Mum, I can’t breathe’, then collapsed. She was resuscitated but remained brain-dead

An employee tried to wake him, but found him dead, still reaching for the keyboard

He was found resting on the table. After the staff woke him up, he took a few steps and collapsed, then died shortly after arrival to hospital.

unknown

Attendants found Wang dead, but his eyes were still open and staring at the screen as though he were still playing

found dead in the establishment’s bathroom

Security camera footage showed Hsieh struggled with chest pains before collapsing

He started to cough violently, coughed up blood then slumped back.

unknown

Suspected cause of death

heart attack caused by asthma

cardiac arrest

thromboembolism

unknown

unknown

his medical condition, physical exhaustion

cardiac arrest

probably pulmonary embolism

thromboembolism due to broken leg

Location of death

at home

internet café

private room of an internet café

internet café

internet café

internet café

internet café

internet café

at home

Was he/she a game addict?

unknown

unknown

unknown

unknown

unknown

unknown

yes

yes

yes

Other risk factors

no

unknown

unknown

unknown

unknown

smoking

unknown

unknown

broken leg

History of diseases

asthma

treated for a heart attack last year

unknown

unknown

unknown

taking medicines for liver disease, gallstones

unknown

unknown

unknown

Case number

Case No. 18

Case No. 19

Case No. 20

Case No. 21

Case No. 22

Case No. 23

Case No. 24

Name

Brian Vigneault

Bogdan Akh

Fahad Fayyaz

Natsupon Arunrat

Piyawat Harikun

Muhammad

Dharshan

Date of death

2017.02.19

2018.10.29

2019.02.05

2019.04.27

2019.11.04

2020 October

2021.02.01

Country

USA (Virginia)

USA (San Jose) (but gamer was Swedish)

Pakistan (Lahor)

Thailand (Samut Prakan)

Thailand (Udon Thani)

Egypt

India (Puducherry)

Age

35

21

11

32

17

12

16

Gender

male

male

male

male

male

male

male

Game played

World of Tanks

Fortnite

Fortnite

unknown

combat games

PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds

Fire Wall

Was it consecutive?

yes

no

yes

yes

yes

unknown

unknown

Length of gaming

22 h

several hours a day in the past 2 months

a few hours

probably 12 h

all-night gaming sessions continued through the day

unknown

4 h

Did he/she stand up during gaming?

yes

unknown

unknown

unknown

yes

unknown

unknown

Did he/she miss sleep?

unknown

unknown

probably not

unknown

yes

unknown

probably not

Was he/she gaming when he/she died?

no

no

yes

yes

yes

yes

yes

Did he/she eat/drink?

unknown

yes

unknown

unknown

yes (There was a pile of takeaway boxes on his desk.)

unknown

unknown

On what platform did he/she play?

PC

PC

PC/Xbox?

PC

PC

mobile phone

mobile phone

Circumstances of death

He was doing a charity 24-hour-streaming. He left for a cigarette break but never returned.

Died during sleeping after a gaming competition after 2 months of intensive training

Parents later found him unconscious in his room with a controller in his hand.

He was found dead probably 4 h after having died, laying back on the chair, his mouth covered with blood from biting his tongue.

Father found his son collapsed from the computer chair and was slumped against a PC tower on the floor.

Parents found him unresponsive with his mobile phone open to the game. He was dead before arriving to the hospital.

He collapsed while playing the game. He was taken to hospital, but doctors did not succeed in reviving him.

Suspected cause of death

confirmed fentanyl overdosing

unknown

heart attack

cardiac arrest

stroke

cardiac arrest

cerebral haemorrhage

Location of death

at home

at hotel

at home

internet café

at home

at home

at home

Was he/she a game addict?

gaming professional

unknown

yes

yes

yes

yes

unknown

Other risk factors

heavy smoker

unknown

unknown

unknown

unknown

obesity

unknown

History of diseases

unknown

unknown

unknown

heart disease and high blood pressure

unknown

unknown

unknown