Game industry veteran Paul Steed, whose work spans from bringingWing Commanderinto 3D to helping launch the original Xbox, was announced dead this morning byJace 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 theWing Commanderseries,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 theQuakeseries 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 ofQuakeand stupendous ships ofWing Commanderthat 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.
