A student has been arrested in Tokyo, Japan over an alleged Konami bomb threat made after facing difficulties with one of the company’s mobile game apps.
According to reports from Yomiuri and Mainichi (and translated by Kotaku), the unnamed 16-year-old suspect has been accused of making the Konami bomb threat sometime between June 16–18, 2020. The bomb threat (and other comments) were made on the review section of an online app store, although neither of the two original sources specify which store the threats were made on.
Reports further indicate that the second-year high school student has admitted to making the threats after being taken into custody by local police. The threats are said to have included the statements “I’m going to kill the people who work at Konami” and “I’m going to blow up Konami’s headquarters.”
Why Was There a Konami Bomb Threat?
Gamers getting mad at developers is nothing new, and every once in a while we have an unfortunate like this where someone goes too far. What spurred this particular student to make the Konami bomb threat?
Believe it or not, the 16-year-old suspect was upset over a mobile game of all things. The student had been encountering problems with a mobile version of Pro Evolution Soccer; connection issues had caused a game to drop. As with most competitive games, leaving a game early (whether intentionally or not) is recorded as a loss on your stats.
The threats are especially troubling after the July 2019 arson attack on Kyoto Animation that led to the deaths of 36 people at the studio. The suspect in the KyoAni fire has since been charged by police in late May 2020.
This isn’t the only such incident in the gaming world. Square Enix staff made the decision to cancel several Starwing Paradox tournaments in 2019 due to the company staff receiving death threats.
What are your thoughts on the Konami bomb threat? Do you think it was reasonable for police to arrest the suspect for these comments? Let us know in the comments below!
