YouTube entertainer John “Totalbiscuit” Bain has issued a statement announcing his retirement as a game critic, believing that he does not have long to live.
Bain has fought against terminal cancer for the past four years and has been actively undergoing treatment while still working on his various videos for his YouTube channel. But it appears that his chemotherapy treatment has proved ineffective, and his health has steadily been in decline. Late yesterday, in a post made on the official r/Cynicalbrit subreddit, Bain explained the failing state of his health and his planned future for the “Totalbiscuit” channel and content in what he believes to be the brief time he has left to live.
Bain stated in his Reddit post:
“When I went into hospital a week or so ago, it was accompanied by the news that conventional chemotherapy’s effectiveness had been exhausted. My body has become resistant to all forms of it according to my oncologist. 46 chemo treatments, 138 days plugged into a pump. Let nobody ever say I wasn’t stubborn… That will most likely be my last health update, unless some miracle happens or we do indeed find a trial that can do something despite the damage to my liver. I’d ask people not to speculate about how long I might have left. I’ve deliberately left out some details to try and reduce the behavior, though it might very well have the opposite effect. All I do know is that kind of thing is upsetting to some of my viewers that read it and I’d rather not encourage it. I’ve already exceeded the “usual” lifespan of someone with my condition so whatever numbers people come up with are just that.”
Bain also added that while he will no longer be producing his videos centered around game criticism for “Totalbiscuit”, he has clarified that he will still continue to stream, create co-op gameplay videos with his wife Genna Bain, and produce the Co-Optional Podcast, of which he is the current host alongside entertainers Brooke “Dodger” Thorne and Jesse Cox. He also briefly commented on his time on YouTube, saying “It’s been a privilege, thank you all for letting me into your life and do something so important as to have an impact on how you spend your hard-earned money.”
He concluded his post with a firm reassurance that he will continue to work on entertainment as long as he can, stating: “thank you for reading, watching or listening and I will see you soon, along with Genna, on a stream or YT channel near you.”
The “Totalbiscuit” YouTube channel has over 2.2 million subscribers. Bain has built up his following over many years through his entertaining professional commentary on Planetside 2 and StarCraft 2, his frequent coverage of various indie games in his “WTF is…?” series, and his often sharp and witty commentary on controversial issues and the games industry.
This post was originally written by Greyson Ditzler.
