Star Wars Game Veteran Matthew Shell Has Passed Away

LucasArts veteran Matthew Shell has unfortunately passed away after having a heart attack, with the gaming industry mourning the developer’s passing. Shell had been in the company for 20 years and was credited for numerous games from the company, including recent Star Wars titles.

The Game Awards’ Geoff Keighley is one of the first people who reported on Shell’s passing, praising the veteran for everything he did. Keighley said that Shell had a huge involvement with every Star Wars game that came out in the past two decades and that he will be missed.

“If you've played a Star Wars game over the past 2 decades, Matt Shell was a key part of bringing it to life at LucasArts. Shockingly, Matt passed away this week from a heart attack,” Keighley said. “Matt was an incredible person with a huge heart -- kind, loyal, hard working and always funny. He brought a smile to every meeting. RIP to Matt Shell, one of the truly great people in the gaming industry.”

EA’s Ray Almeda also chimed in, saying that the LucasArts vet was a joy to work with and will miss going to various NBA events with him. Almeda said “may the Force be with you” in his statement, which is fitting, given the amount of Star Wars games Shell worked on.

Like Keighley and Almeda said, Shell played a major role in pretty much every major Star Wars game that has been released. Shell was credited as the director of brand management for last year’s excellent Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, according to VGC. Needless to say, the man will be missed and his big shoes are going to be hard to fill from this moment on.

Numerous Star Wars games are still in development, including Ubisoft’s Star Wars Outlaws which is coming out on August 30. LucasArts will definitely be involved in how the game’s lore is presented and Matthew Shell probably played a part in that. We at Gfinity extend our condolences to Shell’s friends and family.