A few upcoming Square Enix game tournaments were canceled following death threats. The name Starwing Paradox may not ring a bell to most of you, but this is a popular arcade game in Japan featuring team-based giant humanoid mech battles and animation by Sunrise, known for its work on the Gundam series. Released in late 2018, it achieved enough acclaim for Square Enix to consider running tournaments in four major Japanese cities.
According to Kotaku, an official Square Enix statement conveyed the news, saying that the management team of Starwing Paradox received death threats. The company informed the police, who are now investigating the case and, as a precaution, decided to cancel the tournaments. The canceled Square Enix game tournaments were going to take place in Tokyo, Yokohama, Nagoya and Fukuoka, on August 17 and August 24.
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This is the latest in a roll of recent threats and one of them came from a disgruntled 25-year-old nursing care worker. On February 5, 2019, he sent an email to Square Enix’s Tokyo office that read: “Hey staff tomorrow I’m going to kill you get ready [for your punishment].” The man was arrested on March 29 and confessed that he spent over $1,794 on an undisclosed game. Apparently, this sum was spent on gacha, a system akin to loot boxes that is very common in mobile games.
Another man was also arrested for sending a death threat to Square Enix suggesting a “repeat of Kyoto Animation.” Kyoto Animation’s Fushimi studio was the target of an alleged arsonist, killing 35 employees. The author of the threat, 40-year-old Kenichi Hiratsuka, was mad “after losing at a [mobile] game.”
Swatting is another sad trend that needs to end, with the latest event happening with Fortnite World Cup Champion Bugha. Luckily, no one was harmed.
