HANOI: Virtual and online games have grown in popularity among Vietnamese youth and led to some devastating real-life consequences.
On June 9, the body of a five-year-old boy was found next to a stream in a forest in the central province of Nghe An. His hands were tied and his mouth covered with duct tape.
A 17-year-old was later arrested for allegedly kidnapping the boy and leaving him in the forest to die, in imitation of an online game.
The teenager admitted to police that he was addicted to an online hide-and-seek game and took the boy to a nearby forest with the purpose of hiding and then rescuing the boy, like players did in the game.
However, when the boy's family and local authorities launched a search party, he grew scared and abandoned his plans.
Initial autopsy results showed no wounds on the boy's body, with investigators suspecting that he died of thirst and hunger.
According to a VN Express report, online game addiction has hit Vietnamese youth hard in recent years, with a large number of students skipping class to play them in Internet cafes that defy bans to remain open all day.
A report by POKKT, a leading smartphone advertising platform in Southeast Asia, said the number of Vietnamese gamers was 28 million in 2018 and could jump to 40 million this year.
American technology company Nvidia in 2018 reported that Vietnam had as many Internet cafes as Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines combined, at 45,000.
In 2009, Vietnam banned Internet cafes from within 200m of schools in a bid to keep students in class.
However, the availability of mobile phones makes policing screen time a problem and some players pay the ultimate price.
In 2017, a 26-year-old man died in an Internet cafe in southern Vietnam after a marathon gaming session.
According to local authorities, the gamer died of acute pneumonia, exacerbated by physical exhaustion as he had not eaten or drunk any liquids over a long period. Though the case put a stain on online gaming, few players took heed.
Vietnamese market research also shows that urban teenagers spent most of their time studying at school or home, with only four hours a day for recreation, which involves either television or the Internet.
In fact, gaming companies know exactly how to keep players hooked.
A leading Chinese gaming company employee once told the media that apart from the fact that games have an inherent addictive quality, gaming firms have psychological divisions that apply algorithms to entice the subconscious mind.
Another reason contributing to the rising addiction to online gaming is the growing number of game streamers and famous players in Vietnam, who youngsters idolise as their favourite virtual heroes.
Vietnam's recent social distancing campaign has also afforded gamers the perfect excuse to virtually immerse themselves in games.
In 2018, the World Health Organisation officially recognised "gaming disorder" as a mental health condition that affects players both physically and mentally.