Man Credits Popular New Video Game for Saving Him From Dying

Over the past two decades, Bethesda Game Studios have delivered exceptional products to consumers with installments in smash series like The Elder Scrolls and Fallout. For the first time in 29 years, the developers are introducing new intellectual property with Starfield, an Xbox and PC game that's truly out of this world. But can a video game be life-saving?

Starfield is set for wide release on Sept. 6, but some avid fans have been getting a head start on the action RPG before it's available to the masses with special preview codes. For one Reddit user, getting to play Starfield early didn't just make him happy, it kept him from dying in an apartment fire. 

"Starfield literally saved mine and my family’s life on Sept. 1," the post began. "On the night of Aug. 31 I decided to stay up and play as long as possible to experience this new universe. At 2:26 in the morning, while playing the game, I heard an explosion from my downstairs neighbor's apartment." 

"I paused my game to see what was happen[ing]," the gamer continued. "When I opened the door I saw flames rising up our stairwell to our apartment. I immediately got my wife and cat, rushing us to safety with only minor burns." 

"If I hadn’t been up bingeing Starfield I would have been asleep and we would have all died to smoke inhalation. I want to thank this game from saving my family and me from a horrible fate," he concluded, adding, "PRAISE GODD HOWARD" in reference to Bethesda director Todd Howard. A photo of the raging flames taken from across the street shows just how bad it got.

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Chico, CA's Action News Now covered the incident. One woman in the building died in the disaster while others were rescued by firefighters. Dakota Finley, a resident who spoke to reporters, recounted his experience, seemingly identifying himself as the Redditor in question. 

"I was up playing video games late. I probably shouldn't have been, but in this case, it saved us, actually," he admitted. He went on to explain how the woman who died was trapped in her backyard and several neighbors tried to knock down fences to rescue her, but the thick smoke made it impossible. First responders found her unresponsive behind the building. 

As if Starfield didn't have enough hype around it, now there's real-life testimony to its potentially life-saving benefits.