Top 10 Video Game Crimes

Video games (both single and multiplayer) are a way to escape the complexities of real life.

However, in addition to the endorphin rush, many games, especially those that encourage competition between players, can cause changes in behavior. Not all of them are pleasant for others, and some are even dangerous. However, the question of whether games cause crime or are simply a favorite hobby of some criminals remains open.

Let's leave it to the scientists. In the meantime, we'll tell you about 10 crimes in which video games were involved.

10. The Illusion of Life

The list of 10 crimes based on video games opens with World of Warcraft. "WoW" is considered one of the most addictive MMORPGs that have ever appeared on computer monitors. Players spent many hours in the virtual world and completely forgot about the real world.

This is what happened to Lester Huffmire and his wife Petra, who were arrested for child abuse in 2013. The police were called by an alert neighbor who responded to the incessant crying of a child. When the police entered the house, they were met with a disgusting sight - the inside of the trailer was covered in dust, piles of garbage and human feces lay everywhere. Two girls, aged 5 and 10, were exhausted, they had been without food and water for a long time. They were not even allowed to leave the house. And all this time, the unemployed parents were playing World of Warcraft.

9. Death by Pixels

Looting in the game is serious business. So serious that some items sell on the black market for thousands of dollars. And if you add in the emotional value of an item, especially one paid for by sitting at a computer for many hours, then a bunch of pixels can cost a lot.

In 2004, two Legend of Mir III players learned this the hard way. They were friends, and one of them, Zhu Caoyuan, asked the other, Qu Chengwei, for a particularly valuable weapon. He agreed. Time passed, and Caoyuan still did not give the weapon back. Eventually, Chengwei discovered to his horror that Caoyuan had sold the weapon and pocketed the money. The deceived friend tried to file a police report, but they laughed at him. So Chengwei decided to restore justice in his own way, by stabbing his ex-friend in the chest, causing his death.

There is currently a trend in Asian countries to recognize virtual items as real property and provide legal protection accordingly. And China is developing a “virtual law” that regulates the sale of game property.

8. PvP in real life

Lineage II has many fans in our country. Almost every MMO player who has now crossed their thirties started with a pirated Lineage II server, and some made it to the distant off-site, despite the ping (the servers were then located in America).

It was played not only by schoolchildren and students, but also by grown-up family people. For example, dvp. In the worldly world, his name was Andrey Ponomarenko, he owned a computer company, was married, and raised a child. And in "Lineage" he became the hero of the server several times and liked to record his PvP battles (player against player) and post them on YouTube. This provided him with authority and popularity among gamers throughout the post-Soviet space.

However, in real life, unlike in the game, PvP is not encouraged, and dead people do not resurrect in the nearest settlement. In January 2007, Lineika players gathered to drink and have a snack. As usual, alcohol caused quarrels, and dvp went outside with another player to "talk". After Andrey hit him, student Alexander Belkin (nickname in the game SVERH) fell on the asphalt, hit his head on the curb and suffered a skull fracture. Three days later, he died in the hospital. Dvp was sentenced to 7 years.

7. Man as an obstacle

People prone to addiction are ready to do a lot to continue playing their favorite video game. And if someone tries to stop them – oh, what happens then. Scandals, swearing, crying. But some of them are ready to go even further.

One of the most famous crimes committed under the influence of computer games occurred in Russia in 2011. A 32-year-old woman disappeared in the village of Fruktovy near Volgograd. Two weeks later, her body was found on her own land. It turned out that her son had killed her. The 16-year-old teenager hacked his mother to death with an axe in her sleep when she refused to pay him to repair his computer. Then Alexey wrapped the body in a sheet so as not to leave bloody traces and hid it under his own bed, where he slept peacefully the following night.

He told his stepfather, who had come home from work, that Evgenia had allegedly gone to a neighboring village on business. The neighbors were then surprised for a long time that such a quiet, calm boy, although a little withdrawn, was capable of such cruelty.

6. Deadly Farm

When the social network Facebook began to grow and develop, it provided its users with the opportunity to play online browser games. One of the most popular was the farming simulator, Farmville. At one time, no less than 75 million people around the world played it.

Please note that the farm that the player manages operates according to the laws of real time. This means that if you want to "win" the game, you will have to spend almost 24 hours at it, faithfully picking raspberries every two hours. Alexandra Tobias from Florida, USA, was so carried away by picking virtual vegetables and fruits and milking virtual cows that when her three-month-old son began to cry and interfere with her game, she shook him several times. The child suffered head injuries and a broken leg, and despite the efforts of doctors, he could not be saved.

5. The price of life

Video games cost money. Even free-to-play ones require regular financial investments to keep the player afloat. And some work on a subscription plan, meaning that for a monthly fee the player gets full access to the content. As a rule, the price is about $15, but for some categories of citizens, such as teenagers, this amount may seem unaffordable. And some of them are ready to pay anything for the opportunity to continue playing.

In November 2007, when World of Warcraft boasted its highest number of subscribers, Hanoi police arrested a 13-year-old boy. He strangled an 81-year-old woman, robbed her, covered her body with earth and… paid for the game.

4. War of clans

Lineage II is a social game, it is difficult to play alone, so players unite and create clans. Clans can be friends with each other, or fight.

On one Lineage II server there were two clans from the city of Ufa, each with about 30 people. Their relations with each other were tense. One day, two people met at a party, 22-year-old student Andrey and 33-year-old taxi driver Albert. One word led to another, they started talking, found out their common interests, and it turned out that they were rivals in the game. That time everything ended well, the people around them separated them. However, that was not the end of it. When Andrey came home, he called Albert and suggested PvP in real life. As a result, Albert died from his injuries on the way to the hospital.

Players of Albert's clan stopped playing in memory of their comrade. Players of Andrey's clan stayed to celebrate the "victory" on the empty server.

3. There is no death in games

As Evan Ramsey, the perpetrator of the 1997 Bethel school shooting that killed two people and wounded two others, claimed, he simply didn't understand what death was. After all, in DOOM, Ramsey's favorite computer game, you have to be shot at least eight or nine times to kill someone permanently.

It turns out that in real life, just once is enough. And the DOOM franchise continues to confidently hold the laurels of one of the most brutal and bloody in the gaming industry.

2. Life is a game

Criminals seem to be particularly fond of Grand Theft Auto, which serves as a source of inspiration. In 2003, Alabama native Devin Moore was convicted of three murders.

When police were about to question him about a carjacking, Moore killed two police officers and a dispatcher, got into their car, and went on the run. He didn't get far, though, and was apprehended a few hours later in a neighboring state.

When he was arrested, he said the following words: “Life is a video game. Each of us is going to die someday.” What surprised those around him most was that Moore had never shown any inclination toward violence before; he had even considered joining the US Air Force, and his candidacy had already been approved. The criminal was sentenced to death, but he appealed, claiming that he had committed the crimes under the influence of GTA.

1. Bloody Incarnation

Perhaps the bloodiest of the 10 video game crimes was committed by Adam Lanza. On the morning of December 14, 2012, he arrived at Sandy Hook Elementary School armed to the teeth. He had two handguns, a shotgun, and a semiautomatic rifle.

Lanza stormed into a packed Sandy Hook Elementary School and spent 11 minutes shooting at terrified children ages 5 to 10. He killed 26 people, 20 children, and six teachers before turning the gun on himself.

Many have blamed video games for Lanza's crimes, especially the aptly named Kindergarten Killers. However, others point out that the perpetrator's favorite game was Dance Dance Revolution, which is hardly one that promotes violence.