A South Korean man has died of exhaustion after playing the online multiplayer game Starcraft virtually non-stop for almost 50 hours, according to reports. Throughout the session he stopped only to visit the toilet and to take short naps.

The 28-year old man, who has been named as Lee, had recently lost his job because of his obsession with computer games, according to reports.

He died on Friday in an internet café in the South Korean city of Taegu. He had eaten and slept little during the gaming session and collapsed a few moments after finishing his game. Police blamed the death on heart failure, brought on by exhaustion.

In 2002, a 24-year-old South Korean man died at an internet café near Seoul after 86 hours of continuous game play. A few days later, a 27-year-old Taiwanese man died after a 32 hour game play session at an internet café in Fengyuan, central Taiwan.

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