Corey Gaspur, a designer at BioWare for some nine-plus years, has passed away. After getting his start working for the Canadian video game developer in March 2007 at the company's Emondton location, Gaspur worked on the Nintendo-DS title Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood, in collaboration with Sega, in 2008.

From there, Gaspur made a name for himself in bringing Dragon Age: Origins to life in 2009, in addition to his efforts in crafting the combat system utilized by Mass Effect 2 and 3 in 2010 and 2012, respectively. Even more recently, Gaspur was hard at work on bringing the forthcoming BioWare open-world RPG, Anthem, to life behind the scenes -  a new title that just recently released its first batch of gameplay footage.

By all accounts, Gaspur was a well liked and integral member of the BioWare team. His loss will no doubt be felt by those with whom he worked closely over the course of the last decade in the video game industry - a testament, moreover, that anyone who played the later Mass Effect titles can feel by proxy. Offering their own tribute to their fallen compatriot, BioWare offered the following post in honor of the late designer:

"It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of our friend and colleague Corey Gaspur. He was a member of our team for over nine years, and worked as a designer on many of our titles, including Sonic Chronicles, Dragon Age: Origins, Mass Effect 2 and 3, and most recently Anthem. Corey was a talented designer and an even better person. We offer our condolences to Corey’s family and everyone that knew him. We will miss you."

How Gaspur's passing will affect the ongoing development of Anthem is undoubtedly a concern, though with any luck the remaining team will manage to push onward in his memory - and perhaps leave a small tribute to the late designer hidden somewhere within the game as an added easter egg. Furthermore, Gaspur's involvement on such contemporary classic titles like Dragon Age: Origins and Mass Effect 2 means that his legacy will live on.

On that note, here's to Corey Gaspur, the late BioWare designer. May he rest in peace.

Source: BioWare