Blizzard Entertainment, the developer behind the popular online video game “World of Warcraft,” is being dogged by allegations from a father and mother in China who blame the company for the 2004 death of their 13-year old son.
The boy jumped 24 stories to his death while re-enacting a scene from the video game “Warcraft 3,” according to Chinese news reports.
The online games, called “MMORPGs,” or massively multiplayer online role-playing games, involve elaborate fantasy worlds where players take on the persona of a character and can interact with hundreds of players all over the world. The games are immersive, with players spending hours at a time online in the virtual universe.
In July, a 28-year old Korean man died of exhaustion and dehydration in an Internet caf & #233; in Seoul after a 50-hour game-playing session.
Parents of the 13-year-old boy said he spent hours playing the game, at times refusing food or water, according to the reports. They blame the game’s developer for their son’s erratic behavior.
Blizzard spokesman George Wang said company officials believe the Chinese family has tried to file the lawsuit three times over the past year, but that the Chinese courts have declined to hear the case.
Chinese news reports picked up on the latest November filing by the family, now backed by an anti-Internet addiction advocate, Zhang Chunliang, who plans to file a class-action suit. Wang said that Blizzard, a division of Vivendi Universal Games, has not seen a copy of the lawsuit. “World of Warcraft” brought in $290 million in revenues in the first half of this year.
Strix in the Desert
Another L.A. wireless equipment company has planted its footprint on municipal Wi-Fi networks. Calabasas-based Strix Systems designed and manufactured the wireless network unveiled in Tempe, Ariz. this month.
The 40-square-mile Arizona city announced the Wi-Fi project earlier this year, and Strix was awarded the contract in April. Close to 500 Strix wireless nodes are being deployed throughout the city. Each node can cost between $3,500 and $6,000, depending on bandwidth capacity, according to Cyrus Irani, the company’s vice president of strategy.
The Wi-Fi network will be used for Internet and voice, operated by local telecom provider NeoReach Wireless Inc. The network will be available to businesses and consumers for a fee, and Tempe’s police cars and fire trucks will be equipped with Wi-Fi.
Strix started making Wi-Fi products in 2003, primarily focusing on indoor equipment, but it’s been deploying outdoor Wi-Fi networks for the past year or so. Locally, Hermosa Beach and the city of Covina’s Wi-Fi projects use Strix equipment. The company has 70 employees spread through offices in Calabasas, Tokyo, China and Europe.
Aerospace Cuts
BAE Systems plc, originally known as British Aerospace, is closing its Westlake Village office early next year, eliminating 78 positions in engineering and support staff.
The Westlake Village office was part of the European aerospace giant’s inertial products business, which designs and manufactures devices used in navigation and control for missile systems and “guided projectiles.”
“The inertial products business is in a significant market downturn, and several new development programs have been dropped from our customers’ budgets,” said Terry Kanakri, spokesman for BAE Systems North America. The company is restructuring the division, eliminating 260 jobs worldwide.
*Staff Reporter Hilary Potkewitz can be reached at (323) 549-5225 ext. 226, or by e-mail at
[email protected]
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