After previously having spent two straight days playing online role-playing games in an Internet cafe, Zhang had told his parents that he had "been poisoned by games and could no longer control himself". His parents sued Aomeisoft, the China-region publisher of the game World of Warcraft. The head of a software association said to gaming website Play.tm that same year: "In the hypothetical world created by such games, [players] become confident and gain satisfaction, which they cannot get in the real world. "In 2007, a 26-year-old man identified only as "Zhang" died of a heart attack due to lack of physical activity following a seven-day gaming binge, while a 30-year-old man died in a Guangzhou Internet cafe after playing online games for three straight days. South Korea
In 2005, 28-year old industrial repairman Seungseob Lee (Hangul: 이승섭) visited an Internet cafe in the city of Daegu and played StarCraft almost continuously for fifty hours. He went into cardiac arrest and died at a local hospital. A friend reported: "... he was a game addict. We all knew about it. He couldnt stop himself." About six weeks before his death, his girlfriend, also an avid gamer, broke up with him. In addition, he was fired from his job.In 2009, Kim Sa-rang, a 3-month-old Korean girl, starved to death after both her parents spent hours each day in an Internet cafe, rearing a virtual child in an online game, Prius Online. The death is covered in the 2014 documentary Love Child.
Video game addiction (VGA), also known as  gaming disorder or internet gaming disorder, is generally defined as the problematic, compulsive use of video games that results in significant impairment to an individuals ability to function in various life domains over a prolonged period of time. This and associated concepts have been the subject of considerable research, debate, and discussion among experts in several disciplines and has generated controversy within the medical, scientific, and gaming communities. Such disorders can be diagnosed when an individual engages in gaming activities at the cost of fulfilling daily responsibilities or pursuing other interests without regard for the negative consequences. As defined by the ICD-11, the main criterion for this disorder is a lack of self control over gaming.The World Health Organization included gaming disorder in the 11th revision of its International Classification of Diseases (ICD). The American Psychiatric Association (APA), while stating there is insufficient evidence for the inclusion of Internet gaming disorder in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders in 2013, considered it worthy of further study.Controversy around the diagnosis includes whether the disorder is a separate clinical entity or a manifestation of underlying psychiatric disorders. Research has approached the question from a variety of viewpoints, with no universally standardized or agreed definitions, leading to difficulties in developing evidence-based recommendations.