Former paiN Gaming player 444 dead at 25 due to virus

A young Dota 2 player has died from COVID-19.

According to a post by a family member, Anderson “Bob” Santos, also known as 444, is dead. He was 25 years old. 444’s sister revealed the news in a post on Twitter:

“My brother is on the 15th or more attempted resuscitation. He had a good chat with daddy and our grandmother. Now he rests,” she said.

The day before his death, she stated that he was slowly recovering but was seriously impacted by complications stemming from COVID-19 and was requiring extensive medical assistance. She also stated that the severity of his case was causing serious issues with his blood pressure, heart rate, and blood sugar.

The news came as a shock to the pro Dota 2 scene. The support player was competing professionally as recently as January, playing in the open qualifiers to the OGA Dota PIT league. 

He was a member of the Brazilian squad known as One Million that was in the middle of a controversy over OGA’s qualification seeding that forced top teams to play against one another early on. Bob’s team fell short in the final round against 0-900. 

Bob is best known for his stint with paiN Gaming. He competed in the MDL Disneyland Paris Major, 2019 Epicenter Major, and DreamLeague Season 13 Major across two seasons. paiN Gaming dissolved its Dota 2 roster in April 2020 after the 2019-2020 Dota Pro Circuit was cancelled.

Bob’s sister chronicled his struggles with COVID over the last few weeks. She launched a crowdfunding campaign to pay for his treatments and discussed struggles in sourcing medications he needed.

Bob is likely the most notable esports player to die of COVID-19 to date. A number of players across a number of different titles have been afflicted by the disease, including Dota 2 legend Danil “Dendi” ishutin. To this point, esports has been generally lucky to see almost all affected players recover.

A number individuals within the pro Dota 2 scene have sent their condolences to Bob’s family, including his former team, which eulogized him.