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7-time Classic Tetris World Champion Jonas Neubauer dies at age 38

A giant in esports has left us, as seven-time Classic Tetris World Championship Jonas Neubauer has passed away.

Ozzie Mejia

January 8, 2021 9:28 PM

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Update: The headline refers to Jonas Neubauer as 38 years old, however he was 39 at the time of his passing. Shacknews regrets this error.

On another note, the Classic Tetris team has posted a link for Neubauer's GoFundMe, which is currently raising funds for Neubauer's widow and any expenses incurred by this tragedy.

Hi CTWC family. Yesterday was rough, but we are so proud to see the community reaching out and supporting each other. Let’s keep it going.

Here’s a link to Jonas’s gofundme page. https://t.co/DK0scLIuae

— Tetris Championship (@ClassicTetris) January 9, 2021

Original story: The esports world is saddened tonight to hear of the loss of Jonas Neubauer. He is considered one of the all-time greats in the world of Classic Tetris, having won the Classic Tetris World Championship seven times over the course of his illustrious career.

The news comes from Neubauer's Twitter account:

It’s with a heavy heart that we deliver the terrible news that Jonas has passed away from a sudden medical emergency.
He was the absolute best. We are devastated, overwhelmed with grief, and we already miss him dearly.
Information to follow when it becomes available.

Vince Clemente from the Classic Tetris World Championship team reached out to Shacknews a short time ago. He issued the following statement, which will go up on the Classic Tetris World Championship website soon.

It is with broken hearts we share that Jonas Neubauer, 7-time CTWC champion, passed away suddenly on January 4.

Jonas has been an absolute pillar of positivity and humility to our CTWC family. We could have never asked for a greater champ, role model and friend. He was kind, genuine, hilarious, incredibly talented, and a brilliant ambassador for the game. While he was the biggest final boss he always had the warmest heart. He will live on as a legend to our community and many others around the world.

Jonas, we miss you, we love you, and we thank you for inspiring us to always be our best.

Rest in peace our mighty hero.

The 38-year-old Neubauer had been competing in the professional Classic Tetris circuit since 2010. Shacknews was privileged to get to speak to the seven-time champion at the 2019 Classic Tetris World Championship, where he spoke about his competitive career, his love of Tetris, the pressures of competing against a rising new crop of players, and his appearance on ABC's To Tell The Truth.

Shacknews will monitor this story as it develops. We also wish to send our deepest condolences to Neubauer's family, including his wife Heather Ito.

Ozzie Mejia

Senior Editor

Ozzie has been playing video games since picking up his first NES controller at age 5. He has been into games ever since, only briefly stepping away during his college years. But he was pulled back in after spending years in QA circles for both THQ and Activision, mostly spending time helping to push forward the Guitar Hero series at its peak. Ozzie has become a big fan of platformers, puzzle games, shooters, and RPGs, just to name a few genres, but he’s also a huge sucker for anything with a good, compelling narrative behind it. Because what are video games if you can't enjoy a good story with a fresh Cherry Coke?