He read his son's last message on the YouTube channel where the 20-something had entertained more 11 million users with Minecraft gameplay and humorous commentary. The titlewas "so long nerds."
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By Amanda Holpuch
Technoblade, a YouTube persona who earned a following of millions with his humorous commentary on videos of himself playing Minecraft, has died the father of his son announced in a post on his son's account.
More than 11 million subscribers made a habit of watching screen recordings of Technoblade's Minecraft gameplay, while he gave commentary on camera. He presented the everyday events of life in videos, some as mundane as going to the doctor for a D.M.V. or as devastating as receiving a cancer diagnosis.
A video titled "so long nerds," which was posted on Technoblade's YouTube channel on Thursday, and has been viewed more than 26 million times by Friday afternoon, departed from the channel's usual aesthetic of bright pixels and bricks. Instead, a man who identifies himself as Technoblade's father appears in a chair, against an uninspiring white backdrop with a small white dog on his lap.
His father, who doesn't give his name reads a message from his child that begins: "Hello everyone. Technoblade here. You can see me dead in this video if you're watching it.
The message continues to reveal Technoblade's first name, Alex, which he did not use online. A few photos of Alex and his loved ones are also included in the video. Alex had never shown himself in his YouTube videos, preferring to show himself in his character: a crown-crowned sword-wielding pig.
Alex's letter says that "If I had another hundred years of years to live, I'm sure I'd pick Technoblade again every time." "Those were the most joyful years of my life."
His father, who remains emotional throughout the video, says he and his son talked for months about whether or not to create a final video. His father says that Alex wrote the letter and passed away eight hours later.
"I don't think he said everything he wanted to say, but I believe he was able to get the most important points," he says.
The video concludes with a letter that Alex's mother (who is not identified) wrote. She wrote that Alex was averse to fame and was self-deprecating when his channel grew in popularity.
She wrote that Technoblade was always seeking ways to please and reward their audience. He gave away prizes online, encouraged good sportsmanship, and most importantly, shared his Minecraft adventures to provide entertainment and fun.
Alex's family was not able to be reached on Friday. Hypixel, a gaming company that collaborated with Technoblade and the family, stated that the family had asked that inquiries for comment not be sent to them. Don Pireso, the company administrator, wrote in a direct tweet that "The video they posted contains all the information they're comfortable sharing right now."
Alex first publicly acknowledged his cancer diagnosis in a video posted on his channel in August. The video, which showed Alex's voice off camera and displayed the game. He maintained his self-deprecating and humorous style, refusing to be too serious. He also admitted his age at the time, 22.
In the video, he described how the first round of chemotherapy left him exhausted to the point that he was unable to sit up to make a virtual appointment with a doctor. Then, he joked: "Sitting in a chair, am I Superman?"
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After experiencing extreme pain in his arm he claimed he was diagnosed. Although initially, he dismissed the pain as a result of repetitive stress due to video games, he stated that his shoulder was swelling after several days of rest.
He also advised people to take the vaccine Covid-19. He claimed that his cancer treatments have weakened his immune system, which made him more susceptible to serious illness from the coronavirus.
"I'm going to go ahead and speak on behalf of all cancer patients when I say that it is extremely frustrating when hospitals are getting overworked by patients dying of preventable illnesses," he said in the video. "I'm just declaring that we are the first the right to have priority over the beds in hospitals.
Technoblade's friends, fans, and followers on social media praised for his humor, as well as his role as a role model for Minecraft players.
Minecraft is different from other games in that its owner, Microsoft does not have control over the servers that players can connect online. Players can instead create their own servers or join one made by someone else, resulting in an expansive network of worlds in the Minecraft universe.
Hypixel which runs a network of Minecraft servers, announced that it had created a digital book in which users could write messages, and they would be printed and sent out to Technoblade's loved ones. The tribute featured a picture of Technoblade's pig character as a statue. "In many ways the success of many of us is linked to the success of Technoblade," the company said.