When you’re tired of being a Youtuber or streamer on Twitch, you simply abandon your channel. But that wasn’t enough for Sketchek… Discover the crazy and sordid story of this Team Fortress 2 content creator who faked his own death to disappear… before returning as if nothing had happened.
Sketchek, the Team Fortress 2 Youtuber
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 related to Half-Life, the game has quickly forged a very active community that was still breaking records until recently. It must be said that Valve knows how to treat its players well. By analyzing their behavior through Steam, the box is able to offer relevant and generous updates. Unsurprisingly, gamers give back to Valve by staying in the game and growing the community around it.
As with Minecraft and others, this of course requires the emergence of content creators on the game. Among them are a certain Sketchek. The young Australian arrives on Youtube on July 5, 2011. Particularly gifted and offering good quality videos, he will quickly make a small reputation. With 8,000 hours as a Pyro, it’s no wonder he’s considered one of the best Pyros in the game. even offering himself the nickname of “God of all Pyros”, just that !
He participates in lans, creates a Twitch channel… A great future is promised to him on the Internet and especially in the Team Fortress 2 ecosystem. Because if its 40,000 subscribers do not seem like a lot for Youtube at the time and do not even make it the most popular content creator on TF2, its small community is very committed and supports it ardently. Yes but now, the rising star will sink in full flight. In 2015, only four years after its debut, everything comes to a tragic end for Sketchek.
Struck by disease
On June 30, 2015, the young man unveiled a very special video. Her name ? PSA. No big game sessions on the horizon, or even advice, and the content creator even drops his sarcastic character mask. Sketchek indulges in her subscribers and talks about her personal life. He has a terminal illness… A devastating evil that should kill him slowly. Not right away, but his state of health will prevent him from producing content as regularly as before. In the months to come, he should even become more than in bad shape, straddling life and death and requiring medical assistance to survive…
For its loyal subscribers, it is the drama. The video hurts! But this is also the case for the entire Team Fortress 2 community. Especially since shortly before that, the latter was hit by a similar announcement. On January 25, 2015, kitty0706content creator best known for his Team Fabulous 2, died of acute lymphoblastic leukemia at just 20 years old…
In the hope of avoiding losing one of their own again, some even go so far as to want to help financially. Sketchek. Yes, but now, the content creator does not accept donations… except those made in yen. For an Australian, it’s quite confusing but the subscribers don’t stop there. “No big deal, we’ll give to research instead” some say to themselves. But impossible to know which disease gnaws exactly Sketchek. The young man remains very evasive on this subject, even confused. But hey, we can easily attribute this to his state of health, to a desire to preserve a certain modesty or to a desire not to be pitied.
Perhaps it is for this last reason that Sketchekdespite the illness, keep posting videos after PSA. Four in number, they are certainly shorter but have the same flavor as the old ones, almost making subscribers forget the terrible threat hovering over their favorite content creator. Unfortunately, they are brought back to the sad reality a few months later.
It is 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, closing. Sketchek explains that the disease has now taken over. He no longer has the strength to produce new content on Team Fortress 2 and to feed his Youtube channel. He no longer has the strength to fight to live and waits until the end is near for him. Shortly after, he disappears from social networks and the game. Radio silence. The community therefore comes to a sad conclusion: Sketchek succumbed to the disease… May he rest in peace.
The Sketchek Conspiracy
Quickly, tributes abound on the Internet. The Team Fortress 2 community is in mourning and Valve is naturally heeding its call. The Sketchek’s Bequest is thus implemented in game. This is a speed bonus that can be associated with the Axtinguisher. This weapon is of course unlockable for the Pyro. How to pay a more beautiful tribute to the “God of all Pyros” ?
Yes, but now, something is wrong… or rather several. Already at the time, some found the attitude of Sketchek. Why release four videos as if nothing had happened? Why be so mysterious about the disease that struck him? That sounds pretty dodgy to a handful of people. But it is a few years later that the doubts will intensify. First, the video PSA disappeared from Youtube in 2017, two years after the supposed death of its owner. Secondly, a new player arrives, around the same time, on Team Fortress 2 with equipment and items very similar to those abandoned by Sketchek before taking his leave.
These coincidences blow on the embers of questioning but it is a certain George Fennessy who will set them ablaze with a video. The latter shows a part of Team Fortress 2 after all quite classic, except for one detail. At the top of the player rankings is indeed a name: sketchek (with its old logo). Intrigued by the strangeness of the thing, some players decide to add this sketchek to their friends list on Steam. Then begins a rather morbid treasure hunt.
The whole thing is quite sought after, it must be admitted. A video, a coded message, a mysterious Twitter account, an image to decrypt with Winrar, a strange site, a password to find, a binary code to decipher… A whole process to follow to come across an unlisted video by Sketchek simply saying : “He is not dead. New video from Sketchek very soon.” The TF2 community is divided between a form of anger and exaltation. Is this whole circus a joke in bad taste carried out by an anonymous or Sketchek did he fake his death? The defenders of both are only waiting for one thing: the release of the famous video to clarify the situation.
A great comeback… mixed
It arrives in February 2019. More than three years after his last video, Sketchek speak up and confess everything. He explains that he is obviously not dead, and that he was never even sick. All this was just a lie, a trick to get out of Youtube and the world of video games. But why ? Well, it all starts in Japan. The content creator has lived there for quite a long time, likely taking advantage of its rich heritage and plenty of outlets. Gradually moving away from his PC, he then begins to think that video games have ruined his life (in broad outline). He then decides to be less present on TF2 but, above all, to close his Youtube channel.
I decided to close my channel but I wanted to end well, in a way. This is where 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, Sketcheck chose to embark on this huge lie. “I wanted my departure to make some noise” he acknowledges. Yes, but now, three years later, he has again changed his vision of things. Video games are no longer a scourge. He wants to spend hours playing and relaunch his Youtube channel, as if nothing had happened. But, you can imagine, coming back after having lied on such a serious subject, difficult to achieve unanimity.
On the forums, we discuss: whether or not to accept the return of Sketchek ? For some, this is a real dilemma. If they appreciate the player and his content, supporting him after such a big lie poses a moral concern. Especially since, as some people point out, Sketchek gained notoriety with this whole story, and most certainly received some extra money. A rise based on rather sordid bases which of course did not 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 is not only not dead but who, in addition, pretends to be?
For others, this lie is not so serious. Sketchek needed a break? Great good for him and it doesn’t matter that he deceived thousands of people to do it in style. What does it change after all? Overall, the content creator was able to return to Youtube relatively unhindered, regaining his usual views (and then some) while doubling his number of subscribers. He even paid the luxury of disappearing again recently…
A few months ago, all the videos of Sketchek went private. This is no longer the case today, but it is clear that the bugger has not published anything for 10 months. New burnout or new enigma? No one knows, but many are already speculating. Sketchek would have converted back to Vtuber for some, while others claim to know someone who knows someone who knows that Sketchek needs to take a break. What is certain is that Sketchek is not done igniting the Internet. Is it for better or for worse? We let you be the judge.
