Manuel Otto, the German video game designer and influencer behind Stick Run, died at 30 on Tuesday after authorities responded to a fire in an attic room at a property in the Bavarian village of Breitbrunn am Chiemsee, Bavarian police told NBC News.

Police said the blaze was quickly extinguished thanks to a resident's courageous intervention, but it was too late to save one person still inside the apartment.

According to TMZ, the local outlet PNP reported the victim is believed to be the 30-year-old owner of the attic apartment, with formal identification pending.

The Stick Run Team confirmed the death on Facebook in a statement announcing the passing of their creator, developer and fellow Stick Runner, Marc-Manuel Alexander Otto.

According to the Stick Run Team's earlier Facebook post, cited by NBC News and Global News, Otto appeared to have taken his own life during a livestream, and videos of the stream later posted online appear to show him setting himself on fire.

A Twitch spokesperson said in an emailed statement to NBC News that the platform moved quickly to remove the channel and its Video on Demand to prevent the footage from being viewed by others.

'What took place is horrible, and the mental health and wellbeing of our community matters deeply to us,' the spokesperson said, encouraging anyone struggling to seek support and noting that Twitch offers tools to connect people with local mental health resources.

The company's rapid takedown underscores how streaming platforms handle traumatic live moments.

The surprise for the creator community is the reversal of scale: Otto built Stick Run as a 14-year-old high school student in 2010, and the game went on to be played by more than 43 million people worldwide, according to Dexerto as cited by NBC News.

A creator who reached tens of millions as a teenager died at 30, reportedly live on the very kind of platform his generation of creators built their careers on.

The Stick Run team's tribute captured that shock, writing that the game was more than just a product — it was part of players' childhoods, a way friends competed for high scores and made lasting memories.

Few creator-economy stories trace such a long arc from one teenage developer to a multi-platform franchise.

The reporting rests on several converging accounts: Bavarian police confirmed the fatal fire to NBC News, the Stick Run Team confirmed Otto's death and the livestream on Facebook, and Twitch confirmed the channel and VOD removal in a statement to Global News.

TMZ adds that a building resident extinguished the blaze but could not save the person inside.

The Stick Run team has asked the community to refrain from spreading unverified information or speculation and asked anyone with information about the circumstances to contact them or local law enforcement, as Global News reports.

That caution matters because details circulating in comment sections are unconfirmed, and formal identification was still pending when the earliest reports were filed.

The incident lands amid growing scrutiny of livestream platforms' duty of care.

Twitch's statement emphasized that the mental health and wellbeing of its community matters deeply, and that it offers in-platform tools connecting users to local mental health resources — language both NBC News and Global News quote.

For creators and podcasters covering the story, the tension is between reporting a shocking on-stream event and avoiding amplifying the footage itself; Twitch's removal of the channel and VOD was explicitly framed as prevention.

Global News also notes Otto had announced in 2019 that a Stick Run sequel was in development, leaving his team and community to steward that legacy. Readers can support one another by sharing helplines rather than speculation.

Investigative questions remain open: TMZ reports formal identification of the fire victim was pending as of the earliest reports, and the Stick Run Team's statement, quoted by Global News, asked anyone with information to come forward to the company or local law enforcement.

Outlets including NBC News, Global News and AOL all closed their reporting with crisis resources, reflecting a deliberate editorial choice around suicide coverage.

If you or someone you know is in crisis, call or text 988 to reach the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline or chat at 988lifeline.org; Global News also lists the Canadian Association for Suicide Prevention and Kids Help Phone (1-800-668-6868).

The Stick Run community's memorial posts suggest the game will outlive its creator.