Who was KiXSTAr? Michael Stockley was a well-known professional player and shoutcaster of Rainbow Six Siege. He played his first tournaments in 2016 in the first – Season of Pro League. His greatest achievements are:

• The victory in the Pro League North America in – Season 1 and 2.
• The second place in the grand final of all regions in – Season 2

Then in 2017 he switched sides and began a career as a commentator. He accompanied live tournaments and provided either descriptions of the proceedings or analysis and background on the matches. He commented on matches in the Pro League and the Rainbow Six Invitationals 2020 and 2021, among others.

In 2020, he even won an award for Esports Colour Caster of the Year.

During his career as a caster, he was supported by his family. Due to Corona, he spent the last 20 months of his life at home with his parents, from where he also streamed and commented on some games.

How did his death come about? KiXSTAr passed away unexpectedly on October 11. His former casting partner Parker “Interno” Mackay shared a message from the family on Twitter. It states:

Michael passed away while doing what he loved second most in the world: driving. He was alone and no one else was hurt or involved.

Via Twitter

Upon hearing the news of the caster’s death, the community reacted in shock. A game designer for Rainbow Six Siege called Stockley one of the game’s brightest minds. Without him, Siege will never be the same.

What’s particularly tragic is that Stockley was supposed to be commentating on the Pro League in the shooter on the day his death was announced. The developers then postponed the launch of the league.

Developers honor KiXSTAr with an in-game memorial

What happened now? The developers of Rainbow Six Siege have built a monument to Caster in the game, as you can see in this screenshot shared on Twitter by Ubisoft’s Esports Director himself:

The monument is located at the place where KiXSTAr had a special moment as a professional. He managed to single-handedly take out his five opponents – in just 8 seconds.

The shoutcaster captured this special moment himself at the time and published it in a video on YouTube:

His fellow shoutcaster Interro gave an interview to the BBC about the memorial (via BBC). There he told that KiXSTAr and he were just colleagues in the beginning, but later a friendship developed and he even saw him as a kind of brother.

He also said that the plaque was a fitting tribute to Stockley, whose legacy speaks for itself.

Ubisoft is not the only developer to create a memorial for a deceased gamer. In 2020, james999dylan, a well-known PvP player from ESO, died. He also got a memorial in the game:

ESO: Hundreds mourned the death of a player, now he has a memorial