In some sad news for close followers of the eShop and the broader download gaming scene, studio VD-Dev has announced that its co-founder - Fernando Velez - has passed away as a result of "a cardiac failure".
A developer with a number of titles on his CV - as shown in VD-Dev's commemorative banner above - Velez was well known as an open 'Nindie' who was always generous with his time. The studio's IRONFALL Invasion on the 3DS eShop was high profile upon release, adopting a free-to-start model with options to buy the multiplayer and solo campaign components separately. Just recently the studio announced RISE: Race the Future, an arcade-style racer targeting Wii U, 3DS and NX in 2017.
VD-Dev confirmed the news of Velez' passing on social media.
In our experience Velez was a passionate game maker and keen to produce games that the community could embrace and enjoy - he was often one of the studio's most enthusiastic voices in giving interviews and talking to fans.
All of us at Nintendo Life want to express our condolences to Fernando Velez' family, friends and loved ones.
Comments 19
Another death.
R.I.P Fernando Velez...
Wow. That's some really sad news. Hopefully his games will still be played for years to come. R.I.P
Can't say I'm familiar with this studio or the games this man has worked on, but anyone's passing is a sad thing, and I'll certainly be keeping his family and friends in my prayers.
Given Lucky Luke is in this good fellow's resume, I think this pic is only fitting.
Kind of weird to think this guy also worked on Ironfall and several Infogrames titles. Regardless, rest in peace, man.
Aw, that's so sad. I wish his friends and family the best of luck. May he rest in peace.
My condolences to his friends and family.
That's terrible, I'm really sorry to hear. I can't say Ironfall was great but it gave me a lot of fun and you can truly tell how much passion they put into the product, especially it's amazing engine.
@TheDavyStar
Definitely not perfect, and even had some laughable voice acting and faces. But I enjoyed it well enough to beat it, and see just how down to earth the crew were in the credits. They thanked their family and friends... So nice.
I've not played any of his works, but I've heard IronFall: Invasion isn't half bad, and RISE: Race the Future looks very interesting, so this is a sad loss indeed. My condolences go his family, friends and colleagues.
This is awful news. I hope the studio manages without him. My thoughts are with his family, friends and colleagues.
That's awful. RIP.
Aww R.I.P hope his family and friends are doing well.
For anyone interested, here is a list of some of the old school games he worked on:
http://www.mobygames.com/developer/sheet/view/developerId,102800/
Looks like quite a bit of GameBoy-GBA games.
May he rest in peace.
Sad news , IRON FALL INVASION was a good game , critics were unfair.
R.I.P.
Rip
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
RIP
that sucks
RIP
also didnt the blur the NX logo for the first debut of Rise?
I played Driv3r to death. RIP.
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