Gamer Dies 22 Hours Into Marathon Stream

It started as just another day at the office for Brian "Poshybrid" Vigneault, a 35-year-old gamer known to spend multiple days in a given week live-streaming himself playing the game World of Tanks for 20-plus hours straight. This time, however, the Virginia Beach father of three got up to smoke a cigarette 22 hours into his stream about 4:30am EST on Feb. 19 and never returned. People figured he fell asleep, but when a friend sent a message the next day, the response came from a police detective investigating his death, reports Kotaku. The exhausted-looking father of three had been streaming on the gaming platform Twitch to raise money for the Make-a-Wish Foundation, and PCGames reports he'd been doing similar marathon gaming streams over the past few weeks.

While the cause of Vigneault's death hasn't been determined, PVP Live reports that much of the speculation centers on sleep deprivation and related heart complications. The site notes that big-name streamers have been complaining about the pressure they feel to go for longer and longer stretches, and Vigneault was known for chain-smoking and drinking during his own sessions. Vigneault's death is being mourned online, with the moderators of his Twitch stream turning his channel into a memorial. (This man died during a three-day gaming binge.)