Byron "Reckful" Bernstein, an early contributor to the Hearthstone community, World of Warcraft pro, Twitch streamer, creator of Everland, and so much more, has died from suicide at 31.
If you are contemplating suicide, please reach out to someone.
If not a hotline, confide in a friend. There are people out there who want to help you.
Seeking help is not a sign of weakness.
Reckful's Hearthstone career was not as long as it should have been, but at BlizzCon 2013 he provided us with one of the game's most infamous moments. In the 2013 Hearthstone Invitational, in a game against Kripparrian, he missed lethal; A true horror for all Hearthstone players and proving at the end of the day, we're all only human. He left Hearthstone shortly after this event.
Reckful was the first player in the history of World of Warcraft to reach 3000 Arena rating after a run of 117 wins with only 4 losses. His play was highlighted in the movie Reckful 3.
He dominated the World of Warcraft Arena leader even prior to his 3000 Arena achievement in Cataclysm. For 6 seasons in a row, Reckful was the #1 ranked PvPer in 3v3 starting in Season 4, the final season of The Burning Crusade. His accomplishments didn't stop just online though as he extended his World of Warcraft Arena play to MLG's tournament circuit where they ran WoW events and he placed highly in 4 of them. He played for compLexity Gaming.
- 3rd Place MLG Dallas 2009
- 2nd Place MLG Orlando 2009
- 2nd Place MLG Columbus 2010
- 1st Place MLG Washington DC 2010
- Rank 1 3v3 Ladder The Burning Crusade Season 4
- Rank 1 3v3 Ladder Wrath of the Lich King Season 5
- Rank 1 3v3 Ladder Wrath of the Lich King Season 6
- Rank 1 3v3 Ladder Wrath of the Lich King Season 7
- Rank 1 3v3 Ladder Wrath of the Lich King Season 8
- Rank 1 3v3 Ladder World of Warcraft: Cataclysm Season 9
He was truly an amazing World of Warcraft player and it was always a treat to watch him play.
For the past couple of years, Reckful had spent his time working on his video game, Everland. Everland is an MMO with a social focus and was created to "[hope] to help people find friendship and a sense of community".
Quote From Everland
- Get Social - Recapture the social aspect of games with systems designed around player interaction
- Minigames & Events - Engage with others in minigames in each zone or participate in open world activities
- Collect & Personalize - Collect special outfits, cosmetics, and super rare items then show them off
- Quests & Stories - Immerse yourself in the world as you quest to learn secrets and earn special rewards
- Player Housing - Decorate your apartment with your collection of furniture, or upgrade to a house or mansion
- Explore & Discover - Explore to discover secrets, fun interactions, and meet your favorite influencers in the world
You will be missed, Reckful.
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Comments
I didn't know of him until today, but nobody deserves to go through that pain and die at such a young age, and it's said that we lost such a beloved streamer and a part of Hearthstone's history. All prayers go out to his friends and family.
There is no good reason for suicide
If you've never struggled with mental health issues like severe depression, mania, or schizophrenia, please just don't talk without knowing…
I didn't say they don't happen... I just said... None of those things are good..
But that's my point, in those situations, you might feel like your reasons are good… you feel like you might have people who love you, but you are a burden they have to bear and would be better off without you, and it was worse in Byron's case with “horrible people” (don't really want to use here the term REALLY feel like using) actively encouraging those negative thoughts and giving apparent validation to them. I'm also sorry for reacting angrily earlier too, I shouldn't have assumed what you meant.
I don't know about this specific case and I don't seek to cast judgement, but I don't agree there is never any justification for rational suicide.
However, it's the responsible thing to do to engage with family, friends, your Doctor, mental health services or helplines in your area if you are considering ending your life. That's what I did.
:(
So sad! My thoughts and prayers are with his family and friends.
This is tragic. Anyone that has ever been impacted by suicide knows the trauma that it leaves behind. I truly hope that anyone that contemplates this looks for other options.
This was tough news to wakeup to and even tougher to report on. I don't think I've done enough to highlight his accomplishments.
I didn't know Reckful well personally. We had only spoken a handful times in the early Hearthstone days, but you could tell he was a great person with huge aspirations. Going from competitor to game developer, with the goal of creating a game that would help connect people together in this world where we're less connected than ever even with the increase in global connectivity, was great to see and I'm sad that he won't be able to see it through. From my understanding, Everland was going to release this year in some capacity and they had great success with the tests they had run. When he needed that personal contact the most, something he was creating for others, it wasn't there for him.
I liked the tweet Asmongold put out today and it summarizes everything quite well.
Goodbye, Reckful.
I don't get the context of this quote.. is there any concrete reason why he suicide? (do we know why?)
and does it has to do with mockery? sure you can say that but did he actually suicide due to something HS related?
According to Asmongold:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TUofRGb_qI0
2:20 5:55
Reckful was manic-depressive. He wanted to propose to a girl, some people ridiculed him in the comment section of his recent tweets and he felt humiliated and decided to end his life. This explains the quote, which Flux shared with us.