Man dies while playing Diablo III

Russell Shirley

It’s been out only just over a week, and somebody has already died playing Diablo III, although maybe the only really surprising bit is that he wasn’t Korean.

According to a blog post linked over on Tumblr, a 32-year old American man named Russell Shirley died sometime over the weekend of an apparent heart attack, in front of his PC, while playing Diablo III.

“Please, if only for yourselves, take time out of your day to get some exercise,” writes blogger Ben Dornis, who was apparently a friend and colleague of Russell’s.

“Go outside and enjoy the sun. Ride a bike. Do something active. Video games are great fun when played in moderation. This may be an extreme example but take it as advice to not go overboard. Or at least don’t do it alone. He took 3 days off and played Diablo 3 pretty much the whole time. He called in and asked to take Friday off as well. We are placing the blame on ourselves at work wondering if we made him come in on Friday would he still be with us today?”

Be careful, people.