A university student in China that played Genshin Impact for five consecutive days in a row ended up passing on from the immense exhaustion.
The student hailing from China’s Henan Province was in the third-grade of the Department of Computer Science and Applications of the Professional and Technical Institute of Pingdingshan.
The student’s father explained that the student chose to do a six-month internship for a video game company for a school job, even agreeing to sign a contract allowing them to play and stream for over 240 hours a month.
While initially choosing to play all day, starting November 5th, the student began playing all night instead, and ended up staying up all night for five days in a row, and the longest time they played was nine hours in a row.
On November 10th, the student succumbed to exhaustion while resting in a rented building near the school.
Genshin Impact was the game the student played the entire time, and their friends noted that, while the student didn’t want to play all night, a company representative informed him that there’s more potential for donations at those hours.
Despite playing all night, the student would still work and study during the day, likely leaving little time for actual rest. Their father claimed they were in “good health” and doctor visits yielded nothing negative.
The company’s legal representative stated that the contract was a collaboration agreement and there was no “working relationship” between the student and the company. Since the student died in their home while not playing, the company “had nothing to do with it”, and they don’t “force streamers to play all night”.
Regardless, 5,000 yuan ($700~) was given to the family of the student by the company.
A Beijing law firm, however, didn’t agree, as they noted many streamers sign association-type contracts, and such agreements create an employment relationship. Anything that occurs during working hours that can be checked makes it the company’s responsibility.
It remains to be seen what, if any, legal action will follow after the student’s death – we’ll keep you posted if anything surfaces.
