French streamer Malek "maleK" Bennouioua has passed away at the age of 35, according to announcements from several community figures on X. The cause of death has not been made public.
maleK started playing CS:Source in 2011 and was a well-known figure in the French CS:GO sub-top for many years. He notably played for beGenius and later Epsilon, who also featured Audric "JACKZ" Jug.
After retiring from competition, he moved into content creation full-time, amassing over 130,000 subscribers on his main YouTube channel and 155,000 followers on Twitch.
Several French community figures, including Dan "apEX" Madesclaire, Richard "shox" Papillon, Ryan "Neityu" Aubry, Sebastien "KRL" Perez and Steeve "Ozstrik3r" Flavigni, have taken to social media to pay tribute to maleK.
"Rest in peace, maleK," apEX wrote.
"I have no words, I can't believe it," shox wrote. "I had known him for 20 years, from memories of PxL to a restaurant we went to together just a year ago. He was a dad…
"I beg you, don't stay alone when things aren't okay. I wish I had known so I could have helped him. Tears are running down my face this morning, I can't imagine what his family is going through... My deepest condolences."
Steeve 'Ozstrik3r' FlavigniPast 3 months
beGenius
Malek 'maleK' Bennouioua
Valentin 'VKLL' Bartolomei
Mathieu 'LaAw' Plantin
Théo 'LoWkii' Téchené
Nicolas 'SplqT' Foure
Ryan 'Neityu' AubryPast 3 months
Sebastien 'KRL' PerezPast 3 months
Richard 'shox' PapillonPast 3 months
Dan 'apEX' MadesclairePast 3 months
Epsilon
Malek 'maleK' Bennouioua
Valentin 'VKLL' Bartolomei
Théo 'LoWkii' Téchené
Audric 'JACKZ' Jug
Léo 'Kan4' Intronati
Audric 'JACKZ' JugPast 3 months
Malek 'maleK' BennouiouaPast 3 months