A “gladiator game” exhibit run by Lenovo and Intel during TwitchCon over the weekend has left at least four attendees severely injured when they fell or jumped into a shallow pit of foam cubes scattered over concrete, according to a report by Matthew Humphries on PCMag.com.
As NBC News reports, the exhibit consisted of two platforms surrounded by foam cubes laying on top of a concrete floor. Attendees were tasked with fighting each other in a duel attempting to knock their opponent off the platform and into the foam pit. However, the foam cubes did little to cushion the impact and injuries occurred.
One Twitch streamer named Adriana Chechik, jumped into the pit after winning a duel and as the video above shows, was instantly in pain. She later tweeted that her back had been broken in two places and surgery is required “to put a meter rod in” for support.
Another Twitch streamer known as LochVaness managed to dislocate a knee and sprain an ankle when dismounting the platform. She ended the day in a wheelchair and going to hospital to check if anything was broken. In both cases, the injuries were caused because the attendees assumed they were jumping into a soft pit of foam, where as it was anything but. At least two other attendees were injured: Logiiiic and Chirs Ricks.
Before anyone could take part they were required to sign a waiver, but it looks as though Twitch, Intel, and Lenovo didn’t ensure a safe environment for the exhibit. They also didn’t shut down the exhibit after the first person reported an injured, which allowed more injuries to occur.
When asked for comment by NBC News, neither Lenovo nor Intel initially responded. Video game reporter Nathan Grayson spoke to a member of staff at the exhibit yesterday who said the exhibit was closed because “people were breaking rules.”
This article originally appeared on PCMag.com, Mashable’s sibling site. PCMag.com is a leading authority on technology, delivering Labs-based, independent reviews of the latest products and services.
