Otaku USA Magazine
Man Sends Death Threat to Square Enix Staff, Gets Arrested

death threat

Some players take gacha games way too seriously, especially when they don’t get the items or characters they want. An example of taking it way too far presented itself when a 25-year-old nursing care worker allegedly emailed death threats to Square Enix staff members, threatening to kill them the next day.

The threats arrived at Square Enix’s Tokyo office on February 5, telling staff members, “tomorrow I’m going to kill you get ready [for your punishment].” The original wording of the last part used the expression “kubi arattokeyo,” or “go wash your neck,” which alludes to a samurai washing their neck in preparation for ritualistic suicide.

Square Enix ended up increasing security after the threat, and the man was arrested on March 29. He confessed to the crime, reportedly saying “I spent over 200,000 yen on the game and I didn’t get the item I wanted so I sent the email out of revenge.” That amount adds up to about $1,794, and presumably refers to money spent in a mobile game on randomly-selected virtual gacha.

Thankfully he didn’t have the chance to do any actual harm to himself or others in the process. Now authorities are investigating whether this incident has any connection to something similar that occurred last September, when Square Enix received around 30 emails that contained the word “kill” written in Japanese.

Source: Livedoor News via Kotaku

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