Warning: online game playing can be hazardous to health.
So far, such a warning — usually reserved for addictive products like cigarettes and liquor — has yet to appear on the growing stable of online game titles rapidly gaining popularity in Asia.
But that could soon change, as the industry’s rapid growth gives rise to a new generation of addicts, like the South Korean man who died of heart failure after playing a game called “StarCraft” for 50 hours at an Internet cafe.
The 28-year-old Korean had quit his job to spend more time playing games, and left his seat only to go to the toilet and take brief naps, according to media reports.
Analysts estimate 1-2 percent of South Korea’s online gamers suffer from addiction. The government has designed clinics to help cure addicts, and is talking with developers about creating advisory patches to alert gamers to the dangers of heavy play.
Hanbit Soft (047080.KQ: Quote, Profile, Research), operator of StarCraft, is also considering opening a “game camp” to educate people on the possible effects of too much play, a spokesman said.
“It has definitely bought some negative social impact,” said Jun Fwu Chin, an analyst at data tracking firm IDC.
He said so-called hard-core online gamers — people who play for 20 hours or more a month — now make up about a third of the gaming community.
Game operators, whose titles feature names like “Legend of Mir” and “Ragnarok,” say they are trying to be socially responsible by working with regulators and taking their own measures to curtail addictive behavior.
The jury is still largely out on the issue of harmful effects of online gaming.
By Doug Young