Sony Online Entertainment Associate Art Director John Roy passed away on Tuesday, leaving behind his wife Bianca and four children.

Roy was a true industry veteran, having worked for Sony Online Entertainment for the last 16 years as Lead Artist, Lead Environment Artist and lately as Associate Art Director on PlanetSide 2 and H1Z1

He's also credited for EverQuest, Star Wars Galaxies and Free Realms, and he previously worked for Sony Computer Entertainment and  Bluesky Software (where he contributed to Shadowrun, Vectorman and others as Lead Artist and Art Director).

Sony Online Entertainment President John Smedley shared high praise for his work and launched a Gofundme campaign to raise funds to help Roy's family in this hour of need, donating $1,000 himself to kickstart it.

John was an incredibly talented artist and worked on nearly every game we made at SOE. He loved making games and was one of the most talented artists we have.

Below you can see one of the most recent interviews with Roy, showing his passion and dedication as he responded to questions submitted by the fan.

We'd like to extend our condolences to John's family and to his team at Sony Online Entertainment. It's always sad to see talented developers depart.

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