I was playing Poppy Playtime when I discovered there was a separate multiplayer mode called Project Playtime. Six players are on a team trying to build a giant toy so they can escape… while the seventh player plays as a monster trying to kill them.
It was pretty fun, but it felt like barely anyone played it by the time I found out about it. The servers were super dead. I ended up having to play on a European server even though I live in America. The guy playing the monster was from somewhere in Asia.
His username was “Kang.” I couldn’t tell if he was going to be some gaming master or if his ping was going to hold him back. But the game turned out to be pretty intense.
Not everyone made it out. Everyone except me got killed by Kang. But at the last second, I managed to pull off a win. I rubbed it in Kang’s face — especially because he had been talking a bunch of trash before the game even started.
I more than succeeded in getting under his skin, because he started messaging me on Steam in all caps, calling me a trash player and a horrible person. I just replied with a smug: “I beat you.”
Kang got even more pissed off and started threatening to beat me to death in real life. That’s about when I blocked him.
I didn’t think for a second anything was going to come of it. This wasn’t my first time getting death threats online. I always just blocked them. Honestly, I even found it funny thinking about their reaction when they realize I blocked them. Just some keyboard warriors screaming and crying their heads off because they lost in a video game.
I like to imagine there are no keys left on the right side of their keyboard, and their monitor is covered in layers of spit. Then their mom comes in and yells at them to shut the hell up and get a job.
But Kang was different.
A few minutes later, I got a message from a random Steam account. It was a brand-new account — no profile picture, no games in the library. The message? Just a string of numbers.
It took me a moment, but I realized it was an IP address. I wasn’t sure if it was mine, but then… the second account sent my full street address too.
This was right after the game with Kang, so I knew it was him. I blocked and reported the new account, then went back and reported his original one too.
I was sure he was just trying to scare me. I mean, I knew he lived on the other side of the world. Finding out where I lived was one thing… but paying hundreds of dollars for a plane ticket? That was ridiculous.
A few days went by. I eventually forgot about it.
I got pretty into Poppy Playtime, though. I put together my own friend group on Steam so I wouldn’t risk ending up in another lobby with Kang.
One night, my friends and I played until about 2:00 in the morning. Then I crashed into bed and passed out.
A while later — maybe an hour — I woke up because I had to use the bathroom. But when I opened my eyes…
I saw the silhouette of a person standing over me.
At first, I thought I was just imagining it.
But after I shook off the drowsiness, I realized… there really was someone in my room.
I screamed and jumped back, but I was cornered.
Me: “Who the hell are you?!”
Him (calmly): “You… You don’t recognize me?”
Me: “No! I’ve never seen you in my life! Now get the hell out of my house before I call the cops!”
Him: “You beat me in Poppy Playtime… Now it’s my turn to beat you.”
Kang smashed the hammer into my head. Again. And again. I only remembered the first few hits before everything went black.
My stepdad said he came into my room after hearing the yelling and flipped the light on — just in time to see Kang attacking me. The psycho fled through the window, but by then… I was already unconscious.
I woke up in the hospital a day later. Doped up on morphine. My head still pounding.
Somehow, despite tearing through my skin and breaking my skull, Kang didn’t do any permanent damage to my brain.
The police tracked him down a few days later, trying to board a plane back to Asia. He was arrested and charged with attempted murder.
I’ve never encountered someone who would actually turn their rage over a video game into real-life violence. Especially holding onto that anger for days, while traveling thousands of miles to act on it… it’s absolutely disturbing.
I’ve changed my entire perspective on gamer rage. I used to think it was funny… pathetic, even. Now, I just think of what happened to me because of it.
I suffered a severe concussion… but it could have been so much worse.
[Narration Pause – Real Case Reference]
This story was inspired by a horrific online gaming incident. Although it wasn’t solely based on Poppy Playtime, we chose to include it because many online gaming feuds can turn deadly in similar ways.
The real-world incident involved an online gamer from New Jersey who recently flew to Florida, broke into the home of a fellow player he had never met in person, and tried to beat him to death with a hammer.
Authorities identified the attacker as 20-year-old Edward King. He became a disturbing example of what academics call internet banging — online arguments escalating into real-world violence.
King and the victim became familiar while playing a Korean MMORPG called ArcheAge, which was set to be discontinued due to low player numbers. But before the game shut down, King and the other player got into a digital feud.
King told his family he was going out of town to meet a “gaming friend.” He flew from New Jersey to Jacksonville, Florida, and booked a hotel near the other player’s home.
Early that Friday morning, King allegedly bought a hammer and flashlight from a local hardware store — receipts for which were later found in his hotel room.
By early Sunday, King dressed in all black, with gloves and a mask, and entered the victim’s house through an unlocked door. He waited for the victim to take a bathroom break from gaming… and then attacked him with the hammer.
The victim somehow managed to fight King off while screaming for help. His stepfather rushed in, grabbed the hammer, and restrained King until deputies arrived.
Police found blood at the entrance and in the bedroom. The victim had severe head wounds and was rushed to the hospital. Deputies jailed King immediately.
When questioned, King said he carried out the violent home invasion because he believed the target was “a bad person online.” He even asked investigators how much prison time he’d get.
They told him:
“It’ll be a long time before you play video games again
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