Mi “Yammers” Hongwei, a prominent caster in China’s competitive Dota 2 scene, was found dead yesterday night in what appears to be a suicide. For a very long period, it was thought that Yammers was battling with his depression.
Yammers was a professional Dota 2 caster who kickstarted his Dota career in 2018. He gained popularity when he became one of the Chinese commentators at The International 9 in 2019. Since then, he began receiving numerous offers to be a Chinese commentator in big events such as BTS Pro Series Season 4, DPC China, Animajor, and Riyadh Master 2022. In addition, ahead of the TI 11 in 2022, he got his own version of Dota 2 chatwheel line, which released by Valve.
This season, Yammers was working as an analyst/caster for DPC China, where he was last heard commentating on PSG. LGD against Invictus Gaming in Tour 3 Division 1 in May 21. He was scheduled for the DPC China final week in early June, according to the schedule. However, he was pronounced dead in his rented house last night, on his 26th birthday.
Yammers revealed in his suicide note, which was published as a scheduled post on the Weibo site, that he grew up in a dysfunctional home and was frequently a victim of bullying and attempted rape during his kindergarten years through high school. He stated that Dota helped him to overcome his hard life and motivated him to pursue a career in esports.
Yammers resigned his work as a surveyor in 2018 to pursue a career as a Dota commentator in Shanghai. However, as his career progressed, his mental breakdown resumed when his father was diagnosed with a terrible illness and died in mid-2019. He then chose to terminate his life, and he ended his message by apologising to his fans.
Mental health is a serious topic that needs attention in esports, including in the competitive scene of Dota 2. Previously, team OG player, Tommy “Taiga” Le, revealed that he is taking a short break from the WEU DPC competition to deal with his mental health problem. Valve has also stated that they have special policy for DPC players who experience mental and physical problems during competition.
