Obituary: WoW and Hearthstone esports star and Twitch streamer Reckful

Gamers and Twitch fans are in mourning this afternoon, as reports confirming the death of streamer Byron “Reckful” Bernstein have hit social media. Both his girlfriend and his roommate have relayed the tragic news. (And now his brother.)

Reckful began his career in World of Warcraft esports over a decade ago, then became a Hearthstone pro and variety streamer. Memorials are already popping up across WoW, as are condemnations of those who harassed him knowing about his public struggles with depression. Redditors are memorializing him on the WoW sub, while Twitter fans are posting farewells in his last tweets and other streamers and WoW orgs speak their truth.

RIP Reckful

I hope this will be a wakeup call to everyone who creates a reward structure around ridiculing and mocking mental illness

We can be better as a community and we will be better.

— Zack (@Asmongold) July 2, 2020

We are saddened to hear of Reckful's passing. He was a pillar of the WoW community and inspired so many players.

If you are in pain, seeking help is not a weakness:https://t.co/88tmUIxm3Z

— Wowhead💙 (@Wowhead) July 2, 2020

i've been fortunate enough to know Reckful through the start of his career as the Rank 1 WoW Arena legend on BG9 and Compexity Red MLG esports champion, all the way through to being one of the most innovative streamers in Twitch history

Byron's legacy will never be forgotten

— Rod Breslau (@Slasher) July 2, 2020

Reckful/Byron memorials are now being held inside World of Warcraft across multiple servers and locations to pay respects to a WoW legend pic.twitter.com/Nb4FHfwAvM

— Rod Breslau (@Slasher) July 2, 2020