Disgraced teenage millionaire Anton Frazer stages a comeback, but continues to be haunted by ghosts of his own making. Eleventh-grader Emma Sano reports for St. Bernadette’s School Press on the controversial reboot of the Shadow City tech genius–turned–social media personality.
Anton Frazer, as well known for his public pranks as he is his hugely popular iOS/Android cross-platform game Shadow City, is back.
After nine months in hiding, following an accidental death at his home, he brought Central London to a standstill last night to announce his latest stunt—a livestreamed game of tag.
Teasers appeared online last week in the form of a countdown and GPS coordinates. Thousands of Anton fans descended upon Shaftesbury Avenue, where Frazer took over the Piccadilly Circus electronic billboards with an unauthorized broadcast.
According to his announcement, he plans to stage a citywide game of tag in one month’s time. He revealed that one hundred competitors will be chosen to compete for a prize that includes £100,000 and the opportunity to join his team as he relaunches his online presence.
But police have already slammed Frazer’s plans, decrying them as “dangerous, illegal, and utterly irresponsible.”
Frazer has previously been criticized for the disruption caused by his stunts, which have included camping overnight in a furniture superstore and releasing seventeen male peacocks into the London Underground.
According to an insider, Frazer hopes that his game of tag will move the conversation on from the events of last year, when eighteen-year-old Rose Tavistock drowned during a party at Frazer’s now-abandoned London mansion.
Tavistock was one of Frazer’s cocreators. She is widely credited with helping him make the leap from game designer to one of the world’s most popular social media personalities. Her death came at a time when Frazer and his team were under scrutiny following rumors of infighting and a toxic work environment.
Tavistock’s death was ruled to be a drug-related accident. Frazer’s admission of drug use at his home caused him to lose most of his lucrative sponsorship deals and led to him shutting down his social media accounts.
This latest stunt appears to mark the end of Frazer’s self-imposed exile. Judging by the online response to his announcement, his fans are ready to move on from the Tavistock era. Not everyone is ready to forgive and forget though.
“I don’t understand why anyone still pays him any attention,” one of Frazer's past employees told St. Bernadette’s School Press. “Does no one care that a girl died on his watch?”
Anton Frazer responded to a request for comment with a photo of his tongue.