Minecraft YouTuber Technoblade has died aged 23, his family have confirmed in an emotional farewell video posted on his behalf.
The video, entitled “so long nerds” and posted to his 10 million followers, showed his father calling him “the most amazing kid anyone could ever ask for”.
The US internet personality rose to fame livestreaming and posting clips of himself playing the sandbox video game.
The farewell message, written hours before his death and read by his father, began: “Hello everyone, Technoblade here. If you’re watching this. I am dead.”
He went on to reveal that his real name was in fact Alex, reminiscing about the time he had pranked viewers into believing his name was Dave.
“Thank you all for supporting my content over the years,” he continued. “If I had another hundred lives, I think I would choose to be Technoblade again every single time as those were the happiest years of my life.”
The online star, who won Minecraft tournaments and legions of fans talking about his life in a humorous way while playing the game, explained in a fundraising video posted in February that he had undergone chemotherapy, radiation therapy and a limb salvage operation after developing a painful tumour in his right arm.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DPMluEVUqS0
Following the news of his death, fans, fellow gamers and online personalities paid tribute online.
“I’ll never forget the day I met Technoblade,” recalled J Schlatt. “I left work early to play in a Minecraft tournament with him. I barely knew how to play… and the dude still carried us to win the entire event.
“Rest in peace, big guy. You’ll always be a legend.”
Another user by the name of Captain Puffy – Cara, tweeted: “Rest in peace Technoblade, He always treated me with pure kindness and never excluded me from anything. He couldn’t of been a kinder person!”
She added: “Thank you for everything you’ve done for this community, it will never be the same without you.”
Tommy Innit said: “Technoblade is a legend. From being a massive fan, to one of his actual friends, I can’t describe how thankful I am to have been in his life. I just know he’s strategizing in heaven on how to beat God…”
“I’ve been rewatching Technoblade’s for the past hour,” added Ludwig. “He was so witty and so humble even in the toughest of times. I’ll always look up to him.”
Another user, going by Quackity expressed gratitude online too, posting: “I had the opportunity to express to Technoblade how much admiration and respect I had for him, not only for the massive impact he had on all of us, but also for keeping his incredible humour even in the darkest moments. I will miss him so much.”
Technoblade’s father thanked fans in the farewell video, noting: “You meant a lot to him.”
He explained that a portion of proceeds from online orders for his late son’s merchandise would now go to charity.
