Manuel Alexander Otto

Marc-Manuel Alexander Otto was born on July 18, 1996, in Germany. He started building browser games as a teenager, cutting his teeth on Flash at a time when the platform made it possible for a single developer to reach millions of players. That early experimentation paid off in 2010, when his side-scrolling runner Stick Run launched on Facebook. Built in Flash, the game had players guiding a stick figure through obstacle courses, and it found a wide audience on the social network just as casual gaming was exploding there. Otto was 14 when it came out. The game's simple loop and quick restarts made it easy to share, and it became a staple for a certain generation of Facebook users.[edit]

Word of Otto's death brought tributes from players who described him as a gaming legend, and the team behind Stick Run issued the statement that served as the principal institutional acknowledgment of his passing. The company confirmed the death of its creator and developer without setting out the circumstances in detail.

Otto was found by firefighters responding to an attic fire in Germany on October 20, 2026, the date given for his death; he was 30. Coverage of the event described it as an apparent suicide that took place during a livestream, with several outlets reporting that he set himself on fire. The characterization of the death as a suicide was attributed in some accounts to the team behind his video game company, and it was reported with the qualifier that the act was alleged.

The livestream itself was his last public appearance, on or immediately before the date of his death. Fans paid tribute in the days after the news, and the Stick Run team's statement remained the only official confirmation; the family did not issue a statement.[edit]