In Japan, a 31-year-old is said to have embezzled his grandmother’s savings of about €230,000 and invested everything in an MMORPG “Magic Sword Legend.” The sister is desperate and is calling for help on Twitter.
This is what the man is said to have done: The man’s sister, Quu_Nao, writes desperately on Twitter :
- Her 31-year-old brother took the money without the grandmother’s (82) permission and transferred it to his own account.
- The brother claims: This is not a crime; he can only be held liable at most civilly. The sister is desperate and asks if there is no way to reclaim the money.
- As the screenshots indicate, a substantial amount, about €230,000, has flowed into the mobile MMORPG “Magic Sword Legends.”
MMORPG advertises: Already 200 Gacha spins in the tutorial
What kind of game is this? “Magic Sword Legend” is a mobile game from the developer “Spotlight Network Limited.” The game is only available in Japanese, making engagement difficult.
But everything suggests that it is a “classic” mobile MMORPG. The game itself describes itself as:
- A full-fledged MMORPG where one can explore the world.
- You can “level up easily” and make friends.
- You can form a group and defeat bosses with your friends.
- You can also dominate in “huge real-time battles” (the question is, who you dominate when dominating).
- And of course, you can already spin the Gacha wheel 200 times in the tutorial, which clearly indicates where the €230,000 likely went.
What one could have done with the money
This is how it is being discussed: Japanese Twitter users are shocked by the story. Many of them talk about what one could have done with the money:
- 40 million yen is an amount with which one could buy a house – an amount that changes lives, and this is how it is used… by the family itself.
- This is too much money to waste like this. If one bought a one-room apartment with it, one could live there forever – or one could rent it out.
- Other users give the sister advice to sue the brother or to go after the bank he apparently tricked to withdraw the money.
A cynical comment says: The most realistic hope of getting money back is life insurance. Apparently, the woman is also being accused of selfishness, that she is worried about her inheritance
that her brother is currently squandering.
This is what it comes down to: People who sink other people’s money into mobile games is a critical issue. Because mobile games with “Gacha” systems carry the same risk of addiction as other forms of gambling.
Gachais a mechanic from video games that replicates a gambling machine. Essentially, you buy the chance to win something with each spin. However, the value of the prizes varies massively, so you often have to spin the wheel quite a lot and spend a lot of money to get the
best prizes.
When such stories become public, the outcry is often great. We reported a year ago on a similar case, but that involved a 13-year-old. The 31-year-old can hardly blame his age now: 13-year-old spends €60,000 on mobile games – When her mother finds out, she has only 6 cents left in her account.
