Former pro Starcraft player and esports commentator Geoff Robinson passed away Saturday at the age of 33. His passing was announced on his official Twitter account yesterday, details of what happened have not yet been made available.
Robinson, also known as iNcontroL, began his esports career with the clan Evil Geniuses in Starcraft 2 before eventually moving into hosting, casting, and streaming. His charm and positive attitude have earned him the reputation of a beloved figure in the community and his absence will certainly be felt. Today, streamers all across Twitch have been taking time to remember Geoff and his contributions to the industry.
Robinson's passing comes as a surprise to his audience, who had not heard any indication that he was sick or otherwise unhealthy. In 2013, iNcontroL suffered a potentially fatal blood clot behind his knee, but seemed to recover entirely. Last month, he missed HSC in Germany due to a "large abscess infected over [his] femoral artery." He last tweeted about the injury on June 27th, saying the infection looked like it was starting to heal. Robinson last streamed on Twitch just 1 day before he passed.
Fellow host/streamer/Starcraft player Day9 remembered his friend Geoff in a tear-filled stream today, friends for over 20 years, Day9 and iNcontroL were both pioneers of the Starcraft scene. At the end of his 2 hour remembrance stream, Day9 raised a beer to iNcontrol and said "A toast to our friend Geoff, who I know I'll miss very much, who was an absolute force of nature, who was hilarious, who was a good man. Cheers to him." The official Starcraft Twitter account issued a touching statement as well, saying that Geoff will be "sincerely missed and forever part of the legacy of the game."
Fans are encouraged by Geoff's family to contribute to SoCal Bulldog Rescue in his honor, a charity that Geoff loved and supported. Geoff's former wife and prominant video game personality Anna Prosser shared a touching tribute to Geoff on Twitter, calling him "the world's leading curator of cute animal videos" and sharing one of his favorite: a gif of a bulldog riding a motorcycle. "Nothing dulls the pain of his loss right now," wrote Prosser, "but escaping into cute animal videos thinking of how I bet he would laugh feels like something he would like.