BioWare designer Corey Gaspur passes away

Corey Gaspur, a long-serving member of the BioWare team, has passed away.

The news was revealed via a memorial post on the developer's blog, announcing his passing with "great sadness" and describing Gaspur as "a talented designer and an even better person."

"We offer our condolences to Corey's family and everyone that knew him," the post continues. "We will miss you."

Gaspur's LinkedIn profile shows how extensively he worked on some of the studio's most popular games. He joined BioWare back in March 2007, with his first project being 2008 Nintendo DS RPG Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood.

Over the past nine years, he served as gameplay, level and combat designer on Mass Effect 2 and 3, as well as all of their DLC and multiplayer expansion packs. He also contributed to Dragon Age: Origins, and was an consultant on Mirror's Edge Catalyst, Star Wars Battlefront, Dragon Age: Inquisition and Mass Effect Andromeda.

His most recent position was lead gameplay designer on Anthem, the sci-fi multiplayer experience Electronic Arts revealed at E3 2017. He was also serving as a part time game design instructor at the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology.

Prior to his time at BioWare, he spent his first year after graduation working on the Turok reboot at Disney's Propaganda Games.

UPDATE: Friends and family have set up a crowdfunding campaign to raise money for Gaspur's son and partner.

The YouCaring page reveals that Cain Gaspur turns four years old in a couple of weeks. The campaign is primarily to help fund his education, with all donations going directly into an account for him that Corey's life partner Laura will access.

At the time of writing, donations have already reached $32,000, with an overall goal of $38,000.