This past July, Byron “Reckful” Bernstein, a world-famous video game streamer and professionalWorld of Warcraftplayer, passed away at age 31. At the time, it was implied by Bernstein’s loved ones that he had taken his own life, and now that’s been confirmed by the Travis County medical examiner. Officially,Reckful’s cause of deathis suicide.
As reported by TMZ, the medical examiner’s report notes that Bernstein was pronounced dead at the scene after emergency responders failed to resuscitate him. It’s unclear how much time passed between Bernstein’s attempt on his life and when emergency responders arrived on the scene.
Prior to his death, Bernstein sent out some tweets that concerned his fans, friends, and family. Bernstein stated, “ahh, I feel bad for anyone who has to deal with my insanity.” In another tweet, Bernstein said, “please just know in these situations the insane person does not feel in control of their actions.” Not long after Bernstein sent those tweets, reports started appearing online that he had passed away, confirmed by his ex-girlfriend, who is known by her online handle BlueGoesMew, as well as fellow streamerNymNand well-known esports journalist Rod Breslau.
Bernstein publicly spoke about his mental health struggles on numerous occasions, and so it was no secret to his followers that he struggled with depression. Bernstein had also revealed to his followers that he was diagnosed with Bipolar Type 2 as a child, as noted by the TMZ report.
Bernstein’s death sent shockwaves throughout the Twitch streaming community, resulting in numerous content creators making a statement on the situation. Since Reckful was primarily known for his time playingWorld of Warcraft, theWoWcommunity also had a strong reaction. Thousands ofWorld of Warcraftplayers across all of the game’s servers gathered tomourn Reckful and pay tribute to him.
Blizzard has decided to take the Reckful tributes a step further by adding him to the game as an NPC. Once theWorld of Warcraft: Shadowlandsexpansionis out, players will be able to interact with aReckful NPCin the Cathedral of Light area of the game. Since Reckful was best known for playing a Rogue character inWorld of Warcraft, the Reckful NPC is fittingly a Rogue Trainer. This marks the second time Bernstein has been honored inWorld of Warcraft, with Blizzard adding another character based on him, named Byron Burnside, to the Bridgeport location in Tiragarde Sound back in 2018.
If you or anyone you know is experiencing suicidal thoughts, please contact the National Suicide Helpline at 1-800-273-8255.
