A 22-YO Russian Man Is The Creator Of 'Blue Whale' Game That's Leading People To Suicide

A 14-year old student from Andheri in Mumbai may be the first reported Indian victim of the 'The Blue Whale Challenge' game, which appears to be still influencing people despite its creator Philipp Budeikin being thrown in jail last month.

indiatoday

A Siberian court sentenced the 22-year-old Russian creator of the game to three years in jail for inciting Russian youths to kill themselves.

In an interview in Russia with Saint Petersburg News in May, Budeikin was asked if he really pushed teenagers to suicide intentionally.

"Yes", he said. "I truly was doing that. Don't worry, you'll understand everything. Everyone will understand", he added, cryptically.

What is Budeikin's game all about?

'The Blue Whale Challenge' started in 2013, with Budeikin making online contact with people - usually impressionable teenagers - so he could decide who would play the game successfully. He would ask people to talk about themselves, Skype them and ask them to watch gory and depressing content online. He would then select people he considered weak enough to be manipulated.

After selecting who gets to play 'The Blue Whale Challenge', the administrators of the game assign daily tasks to the players, which they must complete over 50 days. The game begins with fairly basic tasks, but continually increases in magnitude to tasks such as cutting one's veins, killing an animal and finally suicide.

Twitter

Each task also needs to be photographed or videotaped, so the administrators have proof of completion and authenticity, including the final suicide.

The game got its name from one of the first disturbing challenges of the game, where players were asked to draw a blue whale on a piece of paper, and then told to carve the whale onto their body.

Budeikin claimed that the psychological manipulation he was administrating was intended to make the 'victims' happy. He said he was giving them the warmth and understanding that they didn't get in their lives.

His motives for driving them to suicide were far less empathetic though.

"There are people - and there is biological waste. Those who do not represent any value for society. Who cause or will cause only harm to society. I was cleaning our society of such people", Budeikin said during the interview with Saint Petersburg News.

cnwpw

He denied reports that he and his game were directly responsible for over 130 deaths, stating that he had only directly influenced 17 deaths. He said others had communicated with him and committed suicide later, but without any direct influence from him. Chillingly, he said that there were 28 more people ready to take their lives.

Disturbingly, Budeikin received love letters in jail after his arrest from teenage girls that were under his influence.

At some point, it is necessary to push the teenager not to sleep at night. [In this way, their] psyche becomes more susceptible to influence", he said, explaining his tactics of manipulation.

"Budeikin studied sound engineering and psychology for three years until he was expelled. He has confessed that his mother and older brother hit him while he was growing up. He also stated that he is bipolar.