Student Paid To Live Stream Video Games For 240 Hours In 26 Days Dies After Working Five Straight Nights

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In a strange turn of events, a Chinese student is thought to have passed away from exhaustion after staying up for five nights in a row.

Over the past 20 years, the gaming industry—and the streaming of said game—has grown to such an extent that, under the appropriate conditions, one may make a living earnings from gaming.

Gaming and streaming have significant business potential in China.

But reaching that stage may sometimes prove to be difficult, so it makes sense that many streamers decide to pursue it as a hobby rather than a job.

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A streamer was required to submit 15 short movies and broadcast for 240 hours over 26 days by the media organization Henan Qinyi Culture and Media Co. 

According to local media, the streamer's father then revealed his last name to be Li.

Unfortunately, the student streamer's roommates discovered him unconscious after he had taken on such a significant responsibility, and he was subsequently pronounced dead.

Reports state that he may have passed away from exhaustion following five nights of live broadcasting.

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According to Li's father, Li informed him that the media firm had convinced Li to switch from working the day shift to the night shift in order to increase his income.

This indicated that five nights before his death, he was streaming from 9 PM to 6 AM.

The firm acknowledges that some streamers struggle to strike a balance between working too much and not generating enough money, but they deny that they pushed him to switch shifts.

To put things into perspective and understand how much streaming Li was doing, consider that there are 624 hours in a 26-day span. 

Li would thus have to broadcast for 38.4% of the time if he was required to log 240 hours of content.

This excludes the time required for socializing, sleeping, and finishing any schoolwork.

The media organization claims that all they do is give streamers a place to broadcast live, and they then take a cut of the tips the streamers receive.

A representative for the company reportedly told Metro that Li passed away in his own rented home after hours and wasn't a "formal employee" of the company.

The media company reportedly made the Li family an offer of £550 ($700) in compensation, although it is now unclear if Li's father would pursue legal action against the corporation.

Mr. Li disclosed that his son's school had extended an offer of help.

Li's situation reminds us that the gaming and streaming world is changing, and we need better rules and support to take care of the people making it happen.

We should think about how the industry can grow while making sure the well-being of those involved is not overlooked.