Metroid Prime Developer Andy O'Neil Passes Away, Aged 47

Always sad to hear. Rest in peace!

Terribly sad, 47 is no age.

I'm sorry to hear that. I wish him peace and happiness.

Now this is sad. Only the other day I was marvelling at the genius technical and level design in MP2 during my play through and now to think that one of the minds behind such brilliance has been lost. Taken too young. RIP

r.i.p legend
thanks for making one of my best franchise great

47 is no age. RIP, Thoughts with his family.

You leave an admirable footprint in the Metroid Prime history.

"Passed away" from what, exactly? 🤔🙄

Rest peacefully, good sir.

Same age as myself 😩rest in peace Andy.

So young... But he led such a full life. Heck, I have played most of the games listed in this article. The Uncharted collection was how I finally experienced the series for myself. My prayers to his family.

47 is a shockingly young year to die.

Sad news.
Brilliant technician, and apparently very much a fun-loving guy.

47?! My lord that's young! Far far too young! He must have had some horrible disease or been killed in an accident. People don't just die that young. He could have had another 30-40 years easily!

May he rest in peace.

@Prizm Health likely or accidental. Poor guy.

@Damo when people die young, it’s natural to be curious of the cause...

Dont know who he is but sad that he is too young. Nobody will know how he died.

RIP. I have not had the pleasure of playing the Metroid Prime games yet, as I've only played the first 3 Metroid games. But I do plan on getting to them and it's still sad

Rest in Peace

Let's play Metroid Prime in his memory.

It's always sad to lose a brilliant mind. My thoughts and prayers are with his family.

RIP to him, that means Metroid Prime 4 will be the first in the series that he's not involve with.

@retro_player_22 I doubt he would have been involved with Metroid Prime 4's development either way considering the man long left Retro Studios and formed his own company.

@Damo I think it's a normal reaction when someone does young (or relatively young) for people to have a curiosity of, on one hand, an appreciation for what happened to them. I.E. if they'd been fighting disease for a period of time quietly, it leads to appreciation of what they went through, or if on the other hand they died in a rock climbing accident one can feel better/relatable that it was from doing something they loved doing, (and selfishly, "oh good, it can't happen to me.") I imagine the awareness that "if it could happen to him so young it could happen to me" is the #1 reason, but appreciation of the condition is the close second. I.E. imagine the difference of just finding out Iwata had died one day, but never knowing why, versus having the understanding that he spent years enduring it in silence while still trying run a business, and still pushing his creative ideas on games (in that case, Pokemon Go) up to the very end. It leaves a different appreciation of the situation and the individual.

Wow, he was quite young. Rest in peace, man...thanks for everything!

@beazlen1 multiplayer too. That is always underrated. Pressing F

My condolences to his family and friends.

@Jokerwolf @Heavyarms55 @Damo - If I die that young, I sure hope people care enough to actually ask why.
Anyway, when the media doesn't tell you why a person died relatively young, that usually means it was self-inflicted in some way.

Oh cr*p, why did this happen! Nintendo finish Metroid Prime 4 in his honor!

@Prizm Or the media just plain don’t know? Maybe his family and business haven’t issued a press release explaining the cause of death. Because, you know, most people and businesses don’t. It’s not like he was Heath Ledger or Michael Jackson, for all his good reputation in the sphere of video games.

Either way, 47 is, indeed, no age. Thanks for the games, and rest in peace.

@Prizm Not necessarily. The family could have asked for privacy. Sometimes the media will actually respect that. Especially smaller outlets.

Man I’m only a year younger. Mortality is a son of a gun.

RIP Mr. O’Neil, thanks for the memories

@Damo Humans are curious by nature. It's in our DNA.

So young... rest in peace sir.

Rest in peace, Andy-san.

@Damo I mean, it’s common in journalism to include cause of death in a news article about someone dying, or to mention that the cause of death is unknown, right? I get that this isn’t exactly a hard-hitting news site, but it’s not unreasonable or macabre for people to wonder about how a person died when a specific death is the sole topic of an article.

@Damo I don’t think I was complaining. I’m not really invested in this enough to complain one way or the other.

I’m just pointing out the fact that it falls in line with journalistic decency standards to include cause of death when reporting on a person dying, and I don’t think there’s anything disrespectful or morbid in that standard, or in people being accustomed to it and inquiring after it when it’s absent in articles about specific deaths. No one’s asking for gritty details and pictures, they’re just wondering because cause of death is newsworthy as a general rule.

Of course it should go without saying that the guy’s family and loved ones have the right to keep the cause of death private, and that no one would fault you for respecting their wishes in your reporting. I don’t think the act of expressing interest in the cause of death in a simple comment on an article violates any of the moral boundaries that might exist there.

Rest in peace. Far to young. Many people in the games industry seem to die at a very young age, wich is sad. It isn't a healthy job, it seems.