Game industry veteran Paul Steed, whose work spans from bringing Wing Commander into 3D to helping launch the original Xbox, was announced dead this morning by Jace Hall Show’s blog. The cause of death hasn’t been shared at this time.
Steed got his start as a concept-artist-turned-3D-modeler at Origin in the ’90s. He worked on some of the most revered PC titles of the ’90s, including the Wing Commander series, Wings of Glory, and Bioforge — a game I’ve been replaying this week oddly enough and am still in awe of its design. He also spent a couple years working on the Quake series at id Software, where he made the infamous Crackwhore player model.
Though you may not have known his name as a player, you are likely familiar with the iconic enemy characters of Quake and stupendous ships of Wing Commander that he helped design. Steed was a pioneer in his field. He wrote books on modeling and animating that helped inspire a new generation of 3D artists. He spent his last years founding his own game company Exigent.
Steed leaves behind a wife, children, and one hell of a career. Our thoughts go out to Steed’s friends and family.
[via Jace Hall Show]
