Bluepoint co-founder Andy O'Neil dies
Engineer who worked on Metroid Prime trilogy, Shadow of the Colossus remake was 47 years old
Bluepoint Games announced yesterday on its Facebook page that studio co-founder Andy O'Neil has died.
"Andy was key in the formation of Bluepoint Games and his engineering prowess helped catapult a tiny two-person studio to where we are today," the studio said. "Andy, never afraid of a challenge, drove us to undertake difficult projects and exceed expectations. He would remind us that we do this work not because it is easy, but because it is hard. He always pushed Bluepoint to do great things and we will continue his legacy."
A funeral home obituary for O'Neil stated that he died at his Austin, TX home on June 10 at the age of 47.
A native of Birmingham, England, O'Neil moved to Austin in the late '90s to work for Acclaim on Turok: Rage Wars and Turok: Shadow of Oblivion. He soon jumped to Retro Studios to serve as a technical lead on the first two Metroid Prime games and principal engineer on the third.
O'Neil left Retro and established Bluepoint Games in January of 2006. The studio's first game was the PlayStation 3 launch title Blast Factor, but it quickly found a market for itself remastering established games for new platforms. It brought earlier God of War and Metal Gear Solid titles to the PS3, and more recently adapted the first three Uncharted games for the PlayStation 4. O'Neil's final game with Bluepoint was Shadow of the Colossus for PS4, a complete remake of the Team ICO PlayStation 2 classic.
"Andy's contributions to the gaming industry will never be forgotten," the studio said. "We are saddened by his passing, but grateful he will forever be a part of our lives."
O'Neil is survived by his brother Alistair, nieces Isobel and Lucy, half-brother David, and girlfriend Stephanie.