A 38-year-old male Tokyo resident was arrested by the Japanese police on October 17, 2023 on account of suspicious stalking within the massive multiplayer online game Final Fantasy XIV. The man has been accused of sending the 28-year-old female victim 22 threatening messages urging her to speak with him and not neglect him, lest he tell her family about their past private conversations. [Thanks, Kobe News!]
Unfortunately, the stalking behavior and threatening messages were not limited to just in the game. The offender has also been accused of sending these controlling messages through social media sites, like Line and X (Twitter). Within the game, he followed the victim’s character around without permission while sending these messages. He continued to follow her even after he had been blocked.
The man has claimed that he had no romantic feelings towards the woman and denied some of the charges made against him. However, the police claim his actions are still in direct violation of Japan’s Anti-Stalking Control Law, which aims to protect victims from further unwanted torment.
No further updates on his sentence have been released to the public just yet.
Final Fantasy XIV is available to play on the PS4, PS5, and PC.
