A 54-year-old resident of Toyokawa, Japan was awas arrested on March 16 for allegedly repeatedly sending death threats to Sega.
Accordingly YomiuriHis suspect Akira Watanabe is said to have sent 12 threatening emails between December 2021 and February this year. He allegedly wrote that he was “setting the company on fire,” “killing employees,” and even loudly TBS News
Watanabe reportedly emailed Sega’s contact form from his cell phone. The suspect has been arrested for obstructing a deal and has confessed to sending the emails saying he had “lost at an online game and was frustrated”. Local Japanese media did not name the game. igamesnews has reached out to Sega for comment but has not heard back prior to release.
The threats to set Sega on fire are reminiscent of the Kyoto Tragedy Animation which left 36 dead in an attack that shook the nation and the world.
There have been other incidents in recent years where people have been arrested for similar threats. For example meIn September 2019, Tokyo-based gaming company Akira received death threats through its online contact form. It took a year for the possible perpetrator to be identified. After a court case, a guilty verdict was finally handed over
In 2020, a high-ranking student was arrested allegedly threatened to blow up Konami and kill company employees. The suspect, who admitted to writing the threats, was upset over connection issues with an online game that caused him to lose. Last year, a 21-year-old college senior was allegedly arrested Threatening to release poison gas in an arcade. He was apparently upset after losing at a crane game.
After the Kyoto tragedy animation, game companies and Japanese authorities have shown no tolerance for allowing such threats – and with good reason. They are totally unacceptable and never allowed.
