Reports that a “high profile YouTuber” has “died” circulated online. On August 16, Mia Star started trending on social media after the YouTuber who reportedly died was identified as her.

Star has 100,000 followers on Instagram. One day before her presumed death, she posted about her Replay Awards red carpet appearance. Because of her impressive content, she was also nominated for Creator Of The Year at the Replay Award.

Who was Mia Star?

Mia Star is not a real person. The fictitious social media creator is fake and was created by Relatable, the company behind the popular game What Do You Meme?

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She was created to promote their first murder mystery party game, Who Killed Mia? So the company did kill off Star, but only in the gaming world. And there is no way to solve her murder than to play the immersive game.

After Mia Star’s death took over the internet, a trailer for the game was posted on Star’s Instagram account with the caption, “Crack the case today.”

The game Who Killed Mia? comes in a physical box. Players will need to scan a QR code on their phones which is supposed to lead them to online clues, which includes text messages and magazine articles, all in the effort of debunking the theory.

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Star’s Instagram account is designed in a way that it features images of her with friends and her partner. All these characters are supposed to be suspects in the in-game investigation. The game costs $29.97 and can be bought at Walmart or Amazon.

This type of a marketing gimmick has been tried by many companies before Relatable. In 2020, Riot Games — which is the company behind online game League Of Legends, created verified Instagram account to promote its new character, Seraphine. Even though she was an animated character, the company edited her portraits into real life situations. She was seen taking a mirror selfie or rolling skating at the beach.