The game called "Blue Whale" started in 2013 with a group called "F57" on VKontakte, a social network similar to Facebook. It can be downloaded onto any device that has internet access, and, once it is downloaded, it cannot be deleted. Its name is "Blue Whale" because it is said that these animals go to the shoreline themselves when they want to die.
The game consist of 50 challenges, the last one being suicide, that have to be completed in 50 days. The challenges vary from watching scary movies for 24 hours to carving a blue whale and other different shapes into one's skin.
The game has curators and administrators that do not participate, but they do tell the participants what to do and when.
It started in Russia, where 10 people died following the rules of this game, and started spreading through social networks via private messages and direct chats. The game could also save your personal information to extort you to play and control you by sending a link or a document that uncovers the security breach on any smartphone or PC. If the participant decides that they don't want to play anymore, they receive threats.
Who created this game?
The game was created by Philip Budeikin, a 21-year-old that currently lives in Russia. He studied sound engineering and psychology for three years until he was expelled.
He is held responsible for the death of many teenagers and kids around the world. Since 2013, he has served as admin of, and created 8 groups on Facebook related to the "Blue Whale" game. He confessed that his mother and older brother hit him. He also said he was bipolar.
Budeikin explains why
When Philip Budeikin was asked if he was really inciting people to suicide in a interview in Russia with Saint Petersburg News, he replied "Yes, I did.
If the regimen is violated [sleeping between 9:00pm and 8:00am], the mind becomes more accessible." He related his way of convincing people to do the challenges to lack of sleep and how it affects the nervous system.
He divided people that participated in this game in two groups: "people" and "biodegradable waste." He considered the latter option to be people that only cause damage to society and he wanted to get rid of them and clean society.
He also mentioned that he gave them what they never had in real life: communication, comprehension and warmth.
In addition, Buideikin admitted that he finds it hard to think about the victims. He sometimes thought he was doing something wrong but he got a "feeling" deep inside that he was doing the right thing.
