'If you're watching this I'm dead:' Minecraft YouTuber Technoblade announces death aged 23
1 July 2022, 11:42 | Updated: 1 July 2022, 12:36
Minecraft YouTuber Technoblade has died at 23, his family announced today.
His family revealed the news with a farewell video entitled "so long nerds" posted to his YouTube channel, which is followed by 10 million people.
The emotional video featured his father reading a message from the late American internet personality which said: "Hello everyone, Technoblade here. If you're watching this, I am dead."
The 23-year-old, who gained notoriety live-streaming himself playing Minecraft, had revealed to fans last year that he had been diagnosed with cancer.
He said in his farewell message, written hours before his death, that his real name was Alex - though he had pranked fans into believing his name was Dave.
"Thank you all for supporting my content over the years," he said through his father. "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."
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so long nerds
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Technoblade's father, speaking in the video, said his son was "the most amazing kid anyone could ask for".
The 23-year-old revealed his cancer diagnosis in August 2021, explaining he initially believed the pain was a repetitive stress injury caused by continuous gaming.
However, he visited doctors when his arm became swollen and was then diagnosed with cancer.
He appeared in a fundraising video in February and told followers he had undergone chemotherapy, radiation therapy and a limb salvage operation after a painful tumour developed in his right arm.
Technoblade, whose online avatar was a picture of a pig wearing a crown, earned swathes of fans for speaking candidly about his life while playing the sandbox video game.
Little is know about the 23-year-old, who had amassed 10.8million followers, but his YouTube bio reads: "I play video games too much. I might not be the best, but I do have hot elbows."
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Tributes poured in for the youngster, with the Hypixel Server tweeting "words cannot describe how we, the entire Hypixel Team, are feeling today. Technoblade will always be remembered as one of our best, right from the start."
Slimecicle wrote: "Technoblade's personality and sense of humor were a true inspiration to me and countless others.
"Thank you for everything you gave to a world that took you too soon, you will always be a legend. Rest in peace, Technoblade."
While YouTuber Captain Puffy aka 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!
"Thank you for everything you've done for this community, it will never be the same without you."
Tommy Innit wrote: "Technoblade is a f***ing 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..."
