In February 2025, YouTube turned 20. The video website has gone by way of loads over the previous 20 years, together with an acquisition, an earnings glow-up, and a number of generations of star creators. In our 20 Years of YouTube sequence, we’ll study the uploads, traits, and influencers which have outlined the world’s favourite video website — one yr at a time. Click on right here for a full archive of the sequence.
Technoblade was not the primary YouTube star to die, however his passing helped hundreds of thousands of followers perceive simply how particular the connection between creators and followers may be. His 2022 dying as a consequence of a stage 4 sarcoma was a reminder that YouTube isn’t just a spot for brand spanking new beginnings, however for bittersweet endings as properly.
After launching his YouTube channel in 2013, Technoblade (whose actual identify was Alex) moved up the ranks of the web Minecraft group. His adventures on the Hypixel server impressed movies that attracted hundreds of thousands of subscribers, and his exercise on the Dream SMP put him in shut contact with different high Minecrafters — and as soon as COVID lockdowns rolled round, the remainder of the world joined the enjoyable, too.Subscribe to get the most recent creator newsSubscribe
By the point 2021 rolled round, Technoblade’s subscriber depend had reached eight digits, and he earned a spot on YouTube’s year-end checklist of its high creators. Sadly, one other 2021 taking place shocked Technoblade’s followers: The beloved gamer introduced that he was present process remedy for most cancers.
Technoblade by no means misplaced his upbeat perspective, whilst his situation worsened. He died in June 2022 and was instantly enshrined as an web legend. His farewell video, which features a letter to his followers and a tribute from his father, has been seen greater than 120 million occasions thus far.
A YouTube star dying is a curious factor. On-line video platforms always promote new materials and encourage steady channel development. The phrase for somebody who uploads that materials and experiences that development is a “creator,” a time period that means constructing new issues and including to the ever-expanding tapestry of web lore. Subtractions from the YouTube group have been as soon as so uncommon that it took lots of effort to even go on a short lived break.
The dying of a creator like Technoblade is a shock to that system. It requires viewers to acknowledge that not even this platform — recognized for introducing wave after wave of younger, upstart artists — can stay without end.
For the viewers who felt near Technoblade after devouring lots of of hours of his Minecraft gameplay, that lesson was a tough capsule to swallow. “By way of this new on-line, offline world we’ve, many [fans] will really feel like they may know Technoblade and different members of these on-line communities higher than they know youngsters in their very own faculty,” mentioned Richard England, a vicar at Crofton Parish, in an interview with the New York Occasions. “They are going to have spent simply as a lot time with them.”
The character of YouTube made it tough to deal with Technoblade’s passing, however it additionally preserved his legacy. The followers who struggled to understand such a horrible unhappiness discovered some solace within the fearless, optimistic perspective the Minecraft star delivered to his movies. The identical closeness that made his passing so robust reminded us what he had stood for in life. It reminded us why creators come to YouTube within the first place — to attach with individuals who don’t really feel adequately served by conventional channels.
Technoblade himself put it greatest within the intro to certainly one of his best-known movies, which featured Minecraft‘s SkyBlock mode. “I feel SkyBlock at its core is the last word problem in useful resource administration,” he mentioned. “As you rigorously navigate your absurd circumstance you acquire a brand new appreciation for the few issues you might have.”
Even when he was near dying, Technoblade held onto the attractive issues YouTube had delivered to him. He continued to just accept those that have been completely different, and he spent his time making folks slightly happier than they have been earlier than they clicked on his channel.
“Technoblade created a group of younger folks, lots of them neurodivergent, and provided them acceptance, hope and love,” reads a 2022 column revealed within the Sydney Morning Herald. “The world is a darkish and tough place for a lot of youngsters, and the sense of connection and belonging provided by on-line communities may be genuinely lifesaving. Technoblade impressed his followers to maintain pushing forwards, to maintain striving, and to hold on.”
Whenever you perceive Technoblade’s life in that context, it turns into simpler to see the actions his followers have taken to hold on his legacy posthumously. He has been memorialized within the bygone Dream SMP, his pal TommyInnit has helped hold his channel alive, and Hypixel remains to be certainly one of Minecraft‘s greatest servers. Technoblade even obtained his personal easter egg within the 2025 Minecraft Film.
Technoblade’s beneficiant spirit can be current on this planet of most cancers analysis. Donations to organizations that examine sarcomas have turn into extra frequent. Technoblade was recognized for creating areas the place outsiders might really feel comfy, and the folks he served are carrying on his benevolent mission.
In some ways, the story of Technoblade has turn into an inspiring story, regardless of its inherent tragedy. In 2022, conversations surrounding parasocial relationships began to turn into extra widespread, as observers questioned the unbalanced bonds between followers and their favourite creators. As these discussions proceed to develop and evolve, it will likely be necessary to maintain Technoblade in thoughts. His channel proved that parasocial relationships aren’t all unhealthy. Generally, they equip followers with the instruments they want to deal with massive, unprecedented emotions. Because of the intentionality with which he lived his life, his followers will keep related to him lengthy after his passing — and that, as they are saying, is why Technoblade by no means dies.
