Tired of video games, this youtuber simulates his own death

Sketchek, the Youtuber Team Fortress 2

Do you know Team Fortress 2? This is the direct sequel to Team Fortress Classic, a Half-Life multiplayer mod. It is therefore a multi-FPS released in 2007. And like everything Half-Life-related, the game has quickly forged a very active community that, until recently, was still record-breaking. It has to be said that Valve knows how to treat their players well. By analyzing their behavior through Steam, the box can offer relevant and generous updates. Not surprisingly, players are giving back to Valve by staying in the game and letting the community grow around it.

Of course, as with Minecraft and others, this requires the appearance of content creators in the game. Below are some sketch. The young Australian arrives on Youtube on July 5, 2011. Particularly talented and with high-quality videos, he will quickly make a name for himself. With 8,000 hours as a Pyro, it’s no wonder he’s considered one of the best Pyros in the game. even offers the nickname “God of All Pyros”, only that!

He takes a stake in Lans, creates a twitch channel… He is promised a great future on the internet and especially in the Team Fortress 2 ecosystem. Because if its 40,000 subscribers don’t appear much for Youtube back then and even make it the most popular content creator on TF2, its small community is very dedicated and passionately supports it. Yes, but now the rising star will fall in full flight. In 2015, just four years after its debut, it all comes to a tragic end sketch.

Sick of sickness

On June 30, 2015, the young man revealed a very special video. your name ? PPE. No big gaming sessions on the horizon, or even advice, and the content creator even drops his sarcastic character mask. sketch spoils her subscribers and talks about her personal life. He has an incurable disease… A devastating evil meant to slowly kill him. Not immediately, but his health will prevent him from producing content as regularly as before. In the months to come, he would be in worse than bad shape, teetering between life and death, and needing medical attention to survive…

For its loyal subscribers, it’s the drama. The video hurts! But that also applies to the entire Team Fortress 2 community, especially since the latter had recently been hit by a similar announcement. On January 25, 2015, kitty0706Content creator best known for his team Fabulous 2 died of acute lymphoblastic leukemia aged just 20…

In the hope of not losing one of their own again, some even go so far as to want to help financially. sketch. Yes, but now the content creator doesn’t accept donations… except those in yen. It’s pretty confusing for an Australian, but subscribers don’t stop there. “No big deal, we give to research instead” some tell themselves. But impossible to know which disease exactly gnaws sketch. The young man remains very evasive, even confused, on the subject. But hey, we can easily put this down to his state of health, a desire to maintain some modesty, or a desire not to be pitied.

Maybe it’s for this last reason sketchdespite illness Post more videos afterwards PPE. Four in number, they are certainly shorter but have the same flavor as the old ones and almost make subscribers forget the horrific menace hanging over their favorite content creator. Unfortunately, they are brought back to the sad reality a few months later.

It’s the end I am very ill, my health is slowly deteriorating and the clock is ticking, so to speak. I can’t afford to spend any more time maintaining the chain. This is my very last video to say goodbye to you…

November 1, 2015 released a new video, closure. Sketchek explains that the disease has now taken over. He no longer has the strength to produce new content for Team Fortress 2 and to feed his YouTube channel. He no longer has the strength to fight for his life and waits until the end is near for him. Shortly thereafter, he disappears from social networks and the game – radio silence. The community therefore comes to a sad conclusion: Sketchek succumbed to the disease… Rest in peace.

The Sketchek Conspiracy

There are many awards on the internet. The Team Fortress 2 community is in mourning, and of course Valve is heeding his call. The legacy of Sketchek is thus implemented in the game. This is a speed bonus that can be attributed to the Axtingu isher. This weapon is of course unlockable for the Pyro. How to pay a nicer tribute to that “God of All Pyros”

Yes, but now something is wrong… or rather several. Even then, some found the attitude sketch. Why post four videos like nothing happened? Why be so mysterious about the disease that has afflicted him? That sounds pretty dodgy to a handful of people. But a few years later doubts will increase. First the video PPE disappeared from Youtube in 2017, two years after the supposed death of its owner. Second, around the same time, a new player is coming to Team Fortress 2 with gear and items very similar to those left by sketch before he says goodbye.

These coincidences waft on the embers of the interrogation, but it’s a certain George Fennessy who’s going to set them ablaze with a video. The latter shows a part of Team Fortress 2 in a very classic way, except for one detail. There is actually one name at the top of the player rankings: sketch (with its old logo). Intrigued by the weirdness of the thing, some players decide to add this sketch to their friends list on Steam. Then a rather morbid treasure hunt begins.

The whole thing is quite coveted, you have to admit. A video, an encrypted message, a mysterious Twitter account, an image to be decrypted with Winrar, a strange page, a password to be found, a binary code to be decrypted… A whole process that one has to follow just to come across an unlisted video of Sketchek saying : “He’s not dead. New Sketchek video coming soon.” The TF2 community is split between a form of anger and excitement. Is this whole circus a tacky joke performed by an anonymous or sketch Did he fake his death? The defenders of both are only waiting for one thing: the release of the famous video clarifying the situation.

A great comeback… mixed

It’s coming in February 2019. More than three years after his last video sketch speak and confess everything. He explains that he is obviously not dead and that he has never been sick. All this was just a lie, a ploy to get out of Youtube and the world of video games. But why ? Well, it all starts in Japan. The content creator has been based there for quite some time and likely benefits from its rich heritage and many outlets. As he gradually moves away from his PC, he begins to believe that video games have (broadly) ruined his life. He then decides to be less present on TF2 but above all to close his Youtube channel.

I’ve decided to close my channel but somehow I wanted to end well. That’s when I came up with the idea of ​​faking my own death because I knew it would get a lot of attention.

But instead of playing it fair sketchbook decided to embark on this giant lie. “I wanted my exit to make noise” he acknowledges. Yes, but now, three years later, he has changed his perspective again. Video games are no longer a scourge. He wants to play for hours and restart his Youtube channel like nothing happened. But you can imagine coming back after lying on an issue so serious that it’s difficult to get unanimity.

In the forums we discuss: whether you accept the return or not sketch ? For some, this is a real dilemma. If they value the player and their content, it is morally unsound to support them after such a big lie. Especially since, as some say, sketch rose to fame with this whole story and secured some extra cash. A rise on rather shoddy foundations that, of course, didn’t please everyone, starting with the developers of Team Fortress 2. They have therefore decided to remove Sketchek’s Bequest from their game. After all, why pay homage to someone who not only isn’t dead, but pretends to be?

For others, this lie is not so serious. sketch needed a break? Very good for him and it doesn’t matter that he has tricked thousands of people into doing it in style. After all, what does it change? Overall, the content creator was able to return to Youtube relatively unhindered, regaining its usual views (and then some) while doubling its subscriber count. Recently he even paid for the luxury of disappearing again…

A few months ago, all the videos from sketch went private. That’s not the case today, but it’s clear the bastard hasn’t released anything in 10 months. New burnout or new mystery? No one knows, but many are already speculating. sketch would have converted back to Vtuber for some while others claim to know someone who knows someone who knows that sketch must take a break. Sure it is sketch is not done to ignite the Internet. Is it for good or for bad? We let you be the judge.