Whoops! According to South China Morning Post, a man in China spent an eye-watering $1.4 million on his character in MMORPG Justice Online. His buddy accidentally sold said character for a mere $552. The man filed a lawsuit against game company NetEase and his friend. Well, former friend, I guess.
The friend—er, defendant—had been loaned the character and reportedly tried to sell it back to the man for 388,000 yuan ($55,138). Instead, it was listed for 3,888 yuan ($552) on NetEase’s in-game marketplace and was soon purchased by another unrelated player. During the court mediation that followed, the defendant claimed the shockingly low price was due to a typo induced by exhaustion after a marathon gaming session.
South China Morning Post reports that the suit was settled by a judge who mediated the proceeding online. Authorities in China are now pointing to this mediation as a way judges can oversee legal disputes remotely.
In the settlement, NetEase canceled the sale transaction, and while the plaintiff got his $1.4 million investment back, he reportedly had to pay 90,000 yuan ($12,789) in damages to the player who bought the pricey character on the cheap.