Sylvanaar, Legendary WoW addon creator, dies

If you've ever used Prat, Addon Control Panel, or WoW Instant Messenger (WIM) in World of Warcraft, then you've experienced the amazing work of Sylvanaar, a legendary WoW addon creator. Jon S Akhtar, also known as Sylvanaar by the World of Warcraft community, has died, after changing the daily lives of citizens of Azeroth with his incredible addons for over a decade. 

Sylvanaar dies: WoW community mourns

It is with deep regret that we report the passing of Jon S Akhtar, an alumnus of the University of Texas in Austin, and a principal mobile app developer. 

While the exact cause of death has not been shared, the WoW addon community is morning his passing as is evident by the comments on WoWHead's announcement of the tragic news.

(Picture: Twitter)

Sylvanaar's WoW addons helped countless players, as they improved the World of Warcraft UI by miles. 

With close to 50 million downloads on Curseforge, Sylvanaar's addons were a blessing for the community. He is best known for Addon Control Panel, WoW Instant Messenger and Prat, three addons that many players can't go without.

One user on Twitter shared a story about the impact Sylvanaar's WoW addons had, explaining:

Sylvanaar was a constant presence in the WowAce days. I remember testing the IntelliJ Lua debugger feature with him on IRC. Prat is an essential addon and dev tool. When it broke, the WoW servers even had to rollback the change because so many players were using it.

— Ketho (@Ketho17) May 27, 2021

Our condolences go out to Sylvanaar's friends and family. It remains to be seen if Blizzard will honour Sylvanaar with, for example, an NPC in the game at one point or another.

• Read more: Blizzard honours Reckful by adding him as Rogue Trainer in Shadowlands

Check out our dedicated section for World of Warcraft, featuring news, guides and more.

Check out our video below, where we dive deep into the lore of the Dragon Aspects in World of Warcraft, discussing all the leaders, their history, and some family drama!

For more World of Warcraft news, be sure to check out our dedicated section or some of our WoW Guides & Tutorials below:

Dragonflight Guides - Primal Storms Event| Content Roadmap| Play On Steam Deck| Raid Schedule| Dracthyr Evoker Class| Dragon Isles Zones| Max Level & Progression Path| Crafting Orders| Dragonriding| Editions & Bonuses|Dracthyr Evoker|Twitch Drops & Rewards|Maintenance Schedule US & EU|Check Server Status|Performance & Stuttering Fix|DPS Tier List|Mythic+ Affix Rotation Season 1|Reset Talents | Transfer Aborted & World Down Issues | Tangled Dreamweaver Mount | Stuck on Loading Screen Error Fix | Vault of the Incarnates Loot | Wrathion or Sabellian? | 

Dragonflight Tier Lists - Best DPS Class & Build | Best Healer Class & Build | Best Tank Class & Build

Dungeon Guides - Nokhud Offensive | Neltharus | The Azure Vault | Brackenhide Hollow | Ruby Life Pools | 

WotLK Classic Guides - Best Death Knight Builds| Retribution Paladin PVE| Herbalism Leveling| PvE Beast Mastery Hunter DPS| Shadows of Doom| Cold Weather Flying| Fire Mage PvE| Flying Carpet 

Holiday Events - Hallow's End| Feast of Winter Veil  

Featured image courtesy of Blizzard.