A South Korean man who recently quit his job to play more video games died after playing almost non-stop for 50 hours at an internet café.

"We presume the cause of death was heart failure stemming from exhaustion," a Taegu provincial police official told Reuters.

The 28-year-old man began playing on-line battle simulation games at the café in the southeastern city of Taegu on Aug. 3. He only left the spot over the next three days to go to the washroom or take brief naps on a makeshift bed, police said.

When he didn't come home, the man's mother asked his former colleagues to find him. When they reached the café, he said he would finish the game and then go home, the daily JoongAng Ilbo reported.

He died a few minutes later, the paper reported.

Former work colleagues and staff at the internet café said he had recently quit his job to spend more time playing games.