Reckful Explained
Reckful |
Birth Name: | Byron Daniel Bernstein |
Birth Date: | 8 May 1989 |
Birth Place: | Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
Death Place: | Austin, Texas, U.S. |
Years Active: | 2009–2020 |
Module: | |
Module2: | Embed: | yes | Channel Name: | Reckful | Followers: | 906,000 | Follower Date: | April 2024 |
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Byron Daniel Bernstein (May 8, 1989 – July 2, 2020), better known as Reckful, was an American-Israeli Twitch streamer and professional esports player. He was best known in the gaming community for his achievements in World of Warcraft and Asheron's Call.[2] [3] [4] [5]
Personal life
Byron Daniel Bernstein was born into a Jewish family to Itamar and Judith Bernstein in Los Angeles. He had two older brothers named Guy and Gary; Guy, the oldest, died by suicide when Bernstein was six.[6] [7] [8] Bernstein said he was a "nerdy kid that no one liked" in elementary school, and was made fun of for his difficulty speaking English, which was his second language. Bernstein said he was a gifted student that was good at math but being made fun of discouraged him from participating in school. When he got into high school, he made friends at school, but said his life revolved around playing a video game, Asheron's Call, which fell out of popularity while World of Warcraft was gaining popularity, and he fell into bouts of depression and attempted to kill himself at 16. He later dropped out of high school, also due to depression. He said that he recognized that video games were a form of escapism for him.[9]
Bernstein said his brother's death had a profound effect on his life and his subsequent struggles with depression. Bernstein was diagnosed with bipolar II disorder as a child.[10] [11] [12] Bernstein said that his family refused to let him try selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors because they believed Prozac led to his brother's death. During a trip to Amsterdam, he tried psilocybin mushrooms, which he said helped him for the first time.
Bernstein died by suicide on July 2, 2020.[13] [14]
Career
Bernstein was a professional World of Warcraft player, best known for his innovative play style of the "rogue" class,[15] and a pioneer in video game live streaming on Twitch. His popularity in the game began when he finished in the top 0.1% of the competitive ladder without the use of what were considered essential gameplay mechanics at the time. He finished in the top 0.1% of the player base multiple competitive seasons in a row. He competed in a handful of tournaments and won Major League Gaming's World of Warcraft tournament in 2010.[16]
In 2011, Bernstein released the gaming movie Reckful 3. It reached one million views within a week (as of January 2022, the video had over six million views).[17] He later won the WarcraftMovies top-skilled contest, in which players cast their vote for player of the year.[18] In 2012, he became a developer, operations manager and concept designer at Feenix, a gaming mouse company.[19] He created his YouTube channel in October 2012 and followed in November with his first video, Reckful 5 stack Taste for Blood.
In 2017, Bernstein was ranked fourth in The Gazette Reviews list of top-ten richest streamers. He claimed to have a net worth of $1.5 million and was receiving up to 50,000 viewers per stream.[20] [21]
Bernstein played poker and entered the 2016 Unibet Open London main event, but was knocked out early.[22] In November 2017, he played in a charity poker event sponsored by PokerGO.[23] The event was won by itsHafu.[24]
In May 2018, Bernstein began releasing a podcast called Tea Time with Byron, which features long-form interviews with notable guests in the gaming and streaming communities such as Pokimane and Hikaru Nakamura. A total of six episodes were released, the last one on March 31, 2020.[25]
Before his death, Bernstein was in the process of creating an MMO called Everland.[26]
In August 2020, Blizzard and World of Warcraft paid tribute to Bernstein with an in-game trainer, named after his online alias Reckful. The character is placed inside the Cathedral of Light, an in-game landmark where the community gathered to pay Bernstein a tribute following the news of his death.[27]
LAN achievements
World of Warcraft
- 3rd Place MLG Dallas 2009[28]
- 2nd Place MLG Orlando 2009[29]
- 2nd Place MLG Columbus 2010[30]
- 1st Place MLG Washington DC 2010[31]
Hearthstone
- 3rd–4th Place 2013 Innkeeper's Invitational[32]
Notes and References
- Web site: Miesner . Andrew . Complexity Gaming . June 28, 2012 . Complexity Gaming . https://web.archive.org/web/20120627073704/http://www.complexitygaming.com/roster/ . June 27, 2012 . live .
- Web site: Kwok . Samuel . ArenaJunkies Interview . June 29, 2012 . ArenaJunkies . https://web.archive.org/web/20120621230633/http://www.arenajunkies.com/news/457-interview-with-reckful . June 21, 2012 . live .
- Web site: Rapture . Jeff . Curse Interview . June 29, 2012 . Curse . https://web.archive.org/web/20121104235238/http://www.curse.com/news/world-of-warcraft-news/16207-interview-with-pro-rogue-reckful . November 4, 2012 . live .
- Web site: Enarce . Aleks . Prestige Gaming Russia . June 29, 2012 . Prestige Gaming Russia.
- Web site: Micayla . Elane . IGN – AC Vault . June 29, 2012 . IGN . https://web.archive.org/web/20060614004004/http://acvault.ign.com/View.php?view=ServerNews.Detail&id=44&category_select_id=8 . June 14, 2006 . live .
- Web site: Grayson . Nathan . 2019-12-03 . Psychiatrist Brings Streamer To Tears During Confessional Stream . 2024-02-24 . Kotaku Australia . en-AU.
- Web site: Shafer . Ellise . July 2, 2020 . Byron 'Reckful' Bernstein, Popular Twitch Streamer, Dies at 31 . July 5, 2020 . Variety.
- Web site: December 4, 2019. Talking Depression with Reckful. February 2, 2021. YouTube. HealthyGamerGG.
- Why Reckful dropped out of high school . January 13, 2020 . Bernstein . Byron . Video . English.
- News: Limbong . Andrew . January 13, 2021 . To Help Gamers on Twitch, Dr. K Balances Mental Health Advice With Medical Ethics . en . . 2022-03-12.
- Web site: Wolf . Jacob . 2020-07-03 . Twitch streamer, former World of Warcraft pro Reckful dies at 31 . 2022-03-12 . . en.
- News: 2020-07-03 . Reckful: Twitch and gamers pay tribute after star's death . en-GB . . 2022-03-12.
- Web site: Grayson . Nathan . July 2, 2020 . Twitch Streamer Byron 'Reckful' Bernstein Dies At 31 . July 2, 2020 . . https://web.archive.org/web/20200702210814/https://kotaku.com/twitch-streamer-byron-reckful-bernstein-dies-at-31-1844249681 . July 2, 2020 . live .
- Web site: Messner . Steven . July 2, 2020 . Prominent WoW and Hearthstone streamer Reckful has died at 31 . live . July 2, 2020 . . https://web.archive.org/web/20200702183222/https://www.pcgamer.com/prominent-wow-and-hearthstone-streamer-reckful-has-died-at-31/ . July 2, 2020 .
- Web site: 2020-08-06 . Late streamer Reckful immortalized as NPC in World of Warcraft: Shadowlands . 2022-03-12 . InvenGlobal . en.
- Web site: Radford . Michael . 3000 Rating . June 28, 2012 . SK Gaming . https://web.archive.org/web/20180320105556/http://www.sk-gaming.com/content/25075-Reckful_and_co_hit_3k_arena_cap . March 20, 2018 . live .
- Web site: Boubouille . Beau . MMO Champion . June 29, 2012 . MMO Champion . https://web.archive.org/web/20120328024821/http://www.mmo-champion.com/content/2203-Firelands-Raid-Preview-Reckful-3-PvP-Video-Blizzard-Retrospective-Video . March 28, 2012 . live .
- Web site: Uzbeki . Sven . Top Skilled . June 28, 2012 . Warcraft Movies . https://web.archive.org/web/20120615060640/http://www.warcraftmovies.com/contest11.php . June 15, 2012 . live .
- Web site: Adrian . Shayani . Feenix Collection . June 29, 2012 . Feenix Collection . https://web.archive.org/web/20150121025116/http://www.feenixcollection.com/team.html . January 21, 2015 . live .
- Web site: Deml . Jessica . September 8, 2017 . Top 10 Richest Gaming Streamers . March 19, 2018 . The Gazette Review . https://web.archive.org/web/20180319151737/https://gazettereview.com/2017/09/top-10-richest-gaming-streamers/ . March 19, 2018 . live .
- Web site: Asarch, Steven . October 28, 2017 . IRL STREAMING: SPONTANEOUS ENTERTAINMENT FOR AN AUDIENCE THAT'S ALWAYS LIVE . March 19, 2018 . . https://web.archive.org/web/20180319090327/http://www.newsweek.com/irl-streaming-spontaneous-entertainment-audience-thats-always-live-695443 . March 19, 2018 . live .
- Web site: Glatzer . Jason . March 3, 2016 . 2016 Unibet Open London Main Event Day 1a: Jan Riha Leads the Pack . March 19, 2018 . PokerNews . https://web.archive.org/web/20180320044026/https://www.pokernews.com/news/2016/03/2016-unibet-open-london-1a-24217.htm . March 20, 2018 . live .
- Web site: Cross, Valerie . November 16, 2017 . Twitch Poker $100K Charity Invitational to Stream Live on Nov. 17–18 . March 19, 2018 . PokerNews . https://web.archive.org/web/20180320043936/https://www.pokernews.com/news/2017/11/twitch-poker-100k-charity-invitational-nov-17-18-29362.htm . March 20, 2018 . live .
- Web site: Daniel Smyth . November 20, 2017 . Poker Pros Welcome Gamers in Charity Poker Event for Twitch Streamers . March 19, 2018 . Cardschat . https://web.archive.org/web/20180320043944/https://www.cardschat.com/news/poker-pros-welcome-gamers-in-charity-poker-event-for-twitch-streamers-54483 . March 20, 2018 . live .
- Web site: Tea Time with Byron on Apple Podcasts . podcasts.apple.com . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20200702183724/https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/tea-time-with-byron/id1394987113 . 2020-07-02.
- Web site: Olivetti . Justin . Everland was the MMO Reckful was building before he passed away. . July 6, 2020 . July 9, 2020.
- Web site: Carpenter . Nicole . Blizzard immortalizes late World of Warcraft player Reckful in-game . . August 6, 2020 . August 9, 2020.
- Web site: MLG Dallas 2009 . SK Gaming . July 3, 2020 . November 11, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20211111031414/https://www.sk-gaming.com/event/1566-mlg-dallas-2009/tournament/763-world-of-warcraft . dead .
- Web site: MLG Orlando 2009 . SK Gaming . July 3, 2020 . November 11, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20211111031447/https://www.sk-gaming.com/event/1682-mlg-orlando-2009/tournament/858-world-of-warcraft . dead .
- Web site: MLG Columbus 2010 . SK Gaming . July 3, 2020 . November 11, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20211111031439/https://www.sk-gaming.com/event/1733-mlg-columbus-2010/tournament/943-world-of-warcraft . dead .
- Web site: Miesner. Andrew. October 18, 2010. MLG DC 2010 Recap. August 19, 2021. Complexity.
- Web site: Innkeeper's Invitational. February 9, 2021. Hearthstone Wiki. en.