A Chinese college student named Li Hao tragically died after participating in five consecutive all-night live-streaming gaming sessions for a media company in central China. The company, Henan Qinyi Culture and Media Co., has denied any responsibility for Li’s death.
Li Hao was a final-year student at Henan’s Pingdingshan Vocational and Technical College and was fulfilling an internship requirement for the media company. He worked as an online game streamer and his role involved live-streaming gaming sessions for the company.
The incident occurred on November 10 in Li’s rented house in Zhengzhou, Henan province. His roommates found him breathing rapidly and unresponsive during sleep and immediately sought emergency assistance. Unfortunately, Li was pronounced dead upon arrival at the hospital.
According to a “cooperation agreement” obtained by a newspaper, Li was obligated to live-stream for 240 hours in 26 days and upload 15 short videos each month to earn a minimum salary of 3,000 yuan. Li had recently transitioned to the night shift on November 5, where he engaged in live-streaming sessions from 9 pm to 6 am for five consecutive nights.
Records show that Li conducted a total of 89 live-streaming sessions between October 15 and November 10. Li’s father revealed that the company requested the shift change in order to increase tips and earnings, but Li was reportedly unhappy with the new schedule.
The company, represented by Zhang, has denied any responsibility for Li’s death, highlighting the cooperative agreement they had with him. Zhang stated that the company only provides a venue for live-streaming and takes a commission from viewer gifts given to the streamer.
As compensation, the company has offered 5,000 yuan to Li’s family. However, the company is now facing backlash on Chinese social media for what is perceived as an irresponsible approach to Li’s death.
