Heroes of the Storm can cause gamers to get really passionate, but some jump the shark in their virulence and explosive verbalization of rage.
Stephen Cebula, a 28-year-old man from California who recently made serious threats to the employees of Blizzard Entertainment, now faces five years of jail time and a hefty fine of $250,000.
The man was put under arrest on July 12 and charged with threatening to injure employees of the gaming company.
Multiple Heroes of the Storm players have also complained to Blizzard about the increased number of disturbing messages they had received from a fellow gamer, which caused the gaming company to initiate an investigation on July 3. Some samples from the messages show that the perpetrator, identified as Cebula, is both violent, racist and perhaps slightly out of touch with reality.
"I will bomb the New York twin towers," he said, probably under the impression that he still lives in the year 2001. To take his point home, Cebula vowed to kill and rape his opponents' children.
According to court documents, Blizzard reacted by shutting down Cebula's chat access.
The gamer reacted promptly by sending two Facebook messages to the gaming company. These messages are now evidence in the lawsuit. In his posts, Cebula threatened to pay a visit to Blizzard's headquarters armed with "an AK47 amongst some other 'fun' tools."
On July 7, the FBI received the evidence from Blizzard, which led to Cebula being taken into police custody on July 12. According to additional evidence gathered by the law enforcement, Cebula owned social media accounts where he shared his fascination with serial killers such as Ted Bundy.
Cebula told the Feds that he wanted to "scare those whom he had threatened." The lawsuit also quotes him admitting that he had sexual fantasies involving his 5-year-old niece.
The man is not in his first brawl against the law. As a minor, he threatened a school staff member and, in March 2015, was placed on involuntary psychiatric hold by the Sacramento Sheriff's Department. The hold was enforced after he confessed his intention to murder someone at a local park.
On July 26, Cebula will make his case in court. Until then, he is detained without the possibility of bail due to his "significant" mental health problems, which the legislator considers to be a threat to himself and society.
In recent times, Blizzard has been paying more attention to racist and harassing statements from gamers, and it even partnered with Twitch to curb the aggressive behavior of some.
