iNcontroL

Geoff Robinson, better known by his screenname, ‘iNcontroL’ passed away on July 20th.

For a long time, I’d never really understood why people get upset when a celebrity they’ve never met dies. But now, I think I sort of get it. Waking up to read the news that iNcontroL had died was a total shock to me, so much so that I didn’t initially think it could be real, like many others in the Starcraft community of which Geoff was a part for almost 20 years. He was only 33 years old when he suffered a pulmonary embolism which took his life with virtually no warning.

Geoff was a big part of why I got hooked on esports years ago, and why I continue to be so enamoured with Starcraft to this day, and so despite never having met or talked to him, I wanted to write a little about why he was so great.

One of my earliest infatuations with the scene came in the form of the GD show, a news and opinions programme that was streamed live every Tuesday night at 8pm GMT from the GD Studio in Sweden. Geoff was one of the regulars on the show, along with Adebisi, Semmler, Apollo, Hellspawn, wEppas, Statsman Bruno, Trance, Draskyl and of course 2GD himself. I had chess club at 7:30pm, but I would frequently try to finish my games quickly and then hurry home in the hopes of catching the tail end of the live broadcast. Geoff’s character was indomitable, a juggernaut of both intellect and humour, and Starcraft was blessed that a man of such obvious talents chose to lend them to that game in particular.

Geoff was also a regular on State of the Game and produced arguably the two best moments in the entire series - first by laying down the law on horses and then second by making Day9 fall off his chair. His demeanour and love of life was evident to all, and he was an inspiration to many in the community through his dedication to the game and relentless optimism.

In recent years he has been the shining light on commentary panels, bringing unmatched humour and passion to each cast, uniting die-hard fans and newcomers alike with his ability to analyse and simplify the intricacies of an exceptionally complex game. Future events simply won’t be the same without him.