A Chinese man has filed a lawsuit against his friend for selling a video game character he had spent an exorbitant amount of money on.
The unnamed plaintiff had reportedly spent a whopping $1.4 million on a virtual character in the “free-to-play” massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) “Justice Online.”
However, a friend of his allegedly sold the character by accident for just $552.
He then decided to sue his friend as well as the game’s parent company NetEase, according to South China Morning Post via Abacus.
Based on court documents, the plaintiff lent the character to the defendant who later tried to cross him by selling it back to him for 388,000 yuan ($55,138) via NetEase’s in-game marketplace.
Unfortunately, a typo made by the friend resulted in the character being listed for just 3,888 yuan ($552) on the online hub where another unrelated player purchased it.
The defendant explained during an “online court mediation” that he incorrectly typed in a low price because he was exhausted from a marathon gaming session.
In China, an online court mediation is overseen by a judge who holds a legal dispute proceeding remotely via the internet.
After the mediation, a settlement was agreed upon in which NetEase would cancel the sale transaction.
The plaintiff was able to get his $1.4 million character back, although he agreed to pay 90,000 yuan ($12,789) in damages to the player who purchased his virtual character.
Featured image via Game Sina
