MMO Violence Leads To Real-World Violence, One Death

An in-game dispute between a pair of MMO guilds spilled over into the streets of the Russian city of Ufa recently, leaving one man dead and another in police custody, according to a report by RussiaToday.

Police reports indicate that two Russian guilds (the Platanium and the Coo-clocks) had recently been embroiled in conflict resulting from the (virtual) death of one of the members of the latter guild at the hands of a Platanium member. With the conflict ever-escalating in-game, it was decided that the two groups would settle their differences in the only rational manner: with a violent brawl in the local streets.

As a result of the confrontation, 33-year-old Platanium member Albert was badly beaten and taken to a hospital where he later died.

The article in RussiaToday never explicitly mentions which game the two groups were so enamored with, but the inline picture from Lineage II strongly hints at that being their virtual world of choice.

You can watch RussiaToday's report on the situation, including comments from the victim's sister about how the Coo-clocks continue to threaten her, here.

Online game rivalry ends with real life murder [RussiaToday]