RIP Geoff 'iNcontroL' Robinson

In some incredibly sad news, it has been announced that Geoff 'iNcontroL' Robinson, one of the most popular figures in the StarCraft community and a person frequently described as one of the main pillars of the community, has passed away from sudden illness at the age of 33.

Anyone who has followed the StarCraft: Brood War or StarCraft II scene will know Geoff well. He was not only a professional Brood War and SC2 player, but also an absolutely massive member of the community. He was one of the co-hosts of the popular SC2 podcast State of the Game, one of the main hosts of the current StarCraft podcast The Pylon Show, a beloved caster, a renowned DnDer (he was involved in Roll Play for years, which helped popularize DnD on Twitch, and he continued to be involved in many campaigns after no longer being on Roll Play), and a top level tabletop Warhammer player. He was also among the earliest streamers on Twitch (Geoff's face is the TheThing global Twitch emote) and helped popularize the platform. Above all though, Geoff was most well known for being a genuinely amazing human being who could make anybody laugh (he once cracked a joke that made Day9 laugh so hard he literally fell out of his chair) and was incredibly friendly to everyone from other community figures to random fans who would come up to him at events.

For me personally, this news hurts. A lot. I've followed StarCraft since 2010 and Geoff was the first person outside of Day9 that I started following closely. I've watched Geoff's stream for years, even after quitting SC2, and I've interacted with him several times. Geoff was a part of my everyday life much like Giant Bomb is. I watched his SC2 stream this past Friday and The Pylon Show on Wednesday. I still haven't fully processed this news. The GB community will understand what the StarCraft community is currently going through. Geoff was our Ryan Davis. He was a central figure in the community that had a positive energy that drew people in, and was loved by everyone.

RIP Geoff. I'll miss you buddy. Thanks for the years of entertainment and for everything you've done.

Damn, I only followed the Korean scene/players but saw him a bunch before the region lock and every year during Blizzcon. He always seem like a good dude. It was funny to see him at E3 last year during EA’s mobile C&C presentation. Really sad news.

I've had mixed encounters with Geoff, and all of them indirect. Back in the early SC2 days when he was part of team Evil Geniuses I often saw him as the ringleader for boyish behavior and juvenile antics. On the flipside, whenever I've seen news regarding him in the years since, it's always been positively colored and optimistic. Guy grew up and this is terrible.

Rest well. Find peace.

Very sad news. Dude was such a colourful figure in the scene.

Yikes this is really depressing news. I was always quite fond of Geoff as a personality and have a lot of affection for various Rollplay shows he's been featured on. May he rest in peace.

Wasn't familiar with him but judging from the very heartfelt outpouring, I should look up some of his content. You don't leave that kind of mark on people's lives without being a damn decent human being.

Man, this was sone rough news to see last night. I followed starcraft very heavily throughout my time in school, and while I havent followed it closely these past few years I always enjoyed seeing that incontrol was live so i could spend a bit of time to see what he was doing. He was also typically one of my favorite participants in most D&D or other pencil and paper game streams. Part of me still feels like if I head over to twitch now I'll see his stream running at any moment. He was a great guy with a great personality.

Looking at his recent tweet about what he's learned in his 33 years is bitter sweet. Personalities like his helped shape who I became while I was growing up. Feels like the gaming community got a bit emptier with his passing, but I'm glad he was able to serve as a figure in the starcraft community and he wont be forgotten.

Oddly enough right now my reaction to all this is to get back into those hobbies that I've been letting slide lately. I just want to go watch some day9, incontrol archives, play some starcraft, and play some dnd.

This hit me a lot harder than I thought it would. Day 9 and State of the Game were mainstays for me in the early SC2 days and though I fell off it a bit I continued to follow him on twitter. Jarring to see how things just seemed normal three or four days ago.

May have to fire up SC2 tonight in honor of him.

Geoff is awesome. I was super bummed to read this news when I got home last night. I never followed any of his Starcraft work, but knew him from RollPlay, where he was always one of my favorite players. Incredibly smart and quick-witted guy who could absolutely light up a room.

He will be missed.

Did not know them, but I know how tight-knit that community can be. Condolences to everyone saddened by this.

I'm absolutely shook by this news. Despite a day having gone by, I still feel a sinking feeling in my stomach every time I remember that hes gone now. Never though that the death of a person that I've only met once in my life could have such an impact on me. The dude has been entertaining me and the rest of the SC2 community for around a decade now.

Still can't believe that hes gone.

A void is left in the Starcraft community :(

Really sad. Was a big part of my enjoyment of SC2.

When I first got into SC2, Geoff was one of the most prominent American personalities on the scene. He made an immediate impression and was consistently fun to listen to. He seemed like an all around good dude that cared for the scene and all his friends.

This sucks, it's terrible news, and it makes me sad to see how so many people that were close to him are being affected by such a shocking turn of events. I'm his age and losing one of my close friends out of nowhere would hurt like hell. I checked out Anna's twitter and started to tear up.

Damn, I'm 33 about to be 34 soon. I'm wondering what kind of illness could have killed him so quickly. Crazy how fast life can change. RIP.

@casepb: I was about to start speculating, but stopped myself and typed this up instead:

Remember, everyone, that discussing the circumstances regarding a person's passing is rarely ever appropriate, if they're even tangentially related to you. It can elicit upset feelings from some that connect with Geoff's story--whatever that story is--and dredge some dark memories for others.

His family announced he died from a pulmonary embolism, which is a blood clot that got into his lungs. They announced it because they knew he would have wanted people to know. They also mentioned that Geoff likely died almost instantly and wasn't in any pain. Geoff was quite transparent about his issues with blood clots after he had a near miss with one 6 years ago. On almost every stream he would mention the importance of standing up every hour if you are at a desk a lot to prevent them from occurring. It was a big deal for him back in the day when it happened and he didn't want it to happen to anyone else.

Day9 had a tribute stream for Geoff yesterday and over 13000 people showed up. It was quite touching to see.

Heard about this yesterday and I am heartbroken. Geoff was such an entertaining dude, and a great caster who made any SC2 casting team and match more fun and interesting. He will be sorely missed, and in the SC2 scene, profoundly.

Just way too young. Damn.

I wrote this post on SC2 reddit. I will miss Geoff a lot.

StarCraft ebbs and flows in and out of my life. I’ve been playing since 2012, when I was only 16. As a teenager, it was a perfect competitive outlet for me as I wasn’t heavily involved in sports – there was always opportunities to grow and learn, to look up to better players and to compete on a small scale. I loved the progression and it felt like a worthy long term goal for a directionless teenager. While I don’t play as regularly now, I still watch most tournaments and every few months I’ll go on benders where I play for hours a day. In the hustle of my busy life, it’s easy to forget how much StarCraft means to me. The game itself is complex and beautiful in a way no other game is. It’s hard to even fathom how people are so good at it and watching the highest level of play is a spectacle. Emulating it, even at my terrible level, is exciting and fulfilling, an experience I have never and will never have in another game.

While playing and watching StarCraft is not the focus of my life, the community is. I’ve been active on the StarCraft reddit for almost 8 years, in community discords, streams and Team Liquid for almost as long. I recognize the names of the people I talk to. And while we don’t really know each other, there is something bigger at play. We all have a unifying love of StarCraft, the personalities within it, and the community we are a part of. I’ve been lucky enough to go to three tournaments (in Toronto), and even though I know very few people in the community in real life, I’ve always felt welcomed and accepted by everyone.

The passing of Geoff “iNontroL” Robinson this week has been really hard. He had no idea who I am, but he feels like family. When I was in high school and going through a hard time, I remember messaging him in Twitch chat. He talked to me in DMs for a few days and was super kind and supportive. To me, a 17 year old at the time, having this person who I looked up to support me even though I knew he didn’t know me meant a lot. I’ve watched Geoff for countless hours on stream and in tournaments, and I thought I would have the opportunity to maintain this connection for years to come, to keep enjoying his personality for years to come. They say you don’t know what you have until you’ve lost it, and this rings true now more than ever. I’ll miss him dearly, and his passing has made me appreciate the significance of StarCraft to me and many others.

StarCraft is one the few constants in my life. I love this game, the community and the competitive scene. I can’t imagine what I would do without it. Even if I tune out every few months, I will always come back to it, even if it’s only for a $5 tournament casted by a 45 year old Wardi.

RIP Geoff, you will me missed.

@rahf: @casepb: It was revealed on his twitter than he passed away from a pulmonary embolism. He had had previous blood clots a few years back too. So sad.

Day9's full tribute stream is up on Youtube now if anyone wants to watch it. It's pretty raw at times.

Wow... I knew him from Rollplay YEARS ago. He seemed really nice. Hope he has an endless wet stone and apple juice where ever he is.

Wow.. really sad news!