A Sad Passing at Rockstar

September 27, 2007

We note that a Rockstar developer, Joseph Howell, 35, has died.

According to his Moby Games bio, Howell was credited on a number of high-profile Rockstar titles, including Grand Theft Auto San Andreas as well as GTA III, GTA Vice City, and Manhunt.

Howell's obituary describes him as:

...a staunch defender of Civil Rights and Liberties especially for the underprivileged...

Howell leaves behind a wife and two children.

Posted in People Video Game Industry/Economics

Comments

Re: A Sad Passing at Rockstar

Submitted by Adam Rosen (not verified) on Fri, 06/06/2008 - 10:47.

I am VERY sad to hear this news. Joe and I worked together on a few projects at Acclaim in the late 90's. He was a unique, brilliant and talented guy and extremely nice to boot.

Rest in peace Joe.

Submitted by Axmand (not verified) on Thu, 09/27/2007 - 10:37.

Rest in Peace.

Submitted by gamepolitics on Thu, 09/27/2007 - 11:47.

Folks, please. Let's leave the politics & personalities out of this one.

Submitted by Solid Squall (not verified) on Thu, 09/27/2007 - 06:37.

RIP

Submitted by Pleinair (not verified) on Thu, 09/27/2007 - 06:48.

Sad news. Death always is.

But anyway, I got a pic of him for ya. I put it in the Website field.

Submitted by Yuki (not verified) on Thu, 09/27/2007 - 06:55.

RIP, far to young to be leaving this world.

Submitted by Colonel Finn (not verified) on Thu, 09/27/2007 - 06:58.

Its a shame, and my condolences go out to his friends and family, but does this really warrant a GP post? Also from the charity I'm guessing he committed suicide?

Submitted by Flak the Fox (not verified) on Thu, 09/27/2007 - 07:07.

GP didn't say the cause of death so I must speculate it was either suicide, a accident, or cancer/heart attack.

R.I.P.

Submitted by Unrated (not verified) on Thu, 09/27/2007 - 07:10.

Flak you just named an entire spectrum of death there.

Submitted by nightwng2000 on Thu, 09/27/2007 - 07:51.

Wow!
GP is being watched! :)
http://n4g.com/gaming/News-70617.aspx

Tells how famous you are. Now, if only GP was also a part of Google News because when articles there come up, GP isn't a news site among them, though several gaming news sites are.

In case you're wondering, I, too, was trying to track down factual information about his passing (as we well know, there will be plenty of verbal (spoken AND written) abusers trying to exploit the family tragedy for their own agendas. Sick perverts. Ahem, anyway....

Couldn't find anything yet. But Google updates sort of slow.

I see on Mr. Howell's bio, he has credits far beyond the GTA series, including, but not limited to, Midnight Club II and even MTG: Battlemage. And even a couple of sports titles.

Good people in the industry are hard to find. And clearly Mr. Howell was among the greats.

Beyond my own selfishness, though, it's always a tragedy to lose someone, whether through accident, natural death, or intent. And hope for the family the best in getting through this difficult time.

Nightwng2000
NW2K Software

Nightwng2000 NW2K Software http://www.facebook.com/nightwing2000 Nightwng2000 is now admin to the group "Parents For Education, Not Legislation" on MySpace as http://groups.myspace.com/pfenl

Submitted by Dracis (not verified) on Thu, 09/27/2007 - 08:11.

Very sad to hear about this. I'm 35 myself and already disabled, I can't even imagine how this effects his family.
All the best to his family.

Submitted by William (not verified) on Thu, 09/27/2007 - 08:32.

"In lieu of flowers donations may be made to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention www.afsp.org or the American Civil Liberties Union www.aclu.org."

I'm guessing suicide, game developers have a hard, stressful life....but I so hope I'm wrong....what a horrible way to go...

My thoughts and prayers go out to his family:-(

Submitted by Austin Lewis (not verified) on Thu, 09/27/2007 - 09:03.

May he have rest in the afterlife, and may his widow and children be comforted.

A sad thing death is.

Submitted by HandofCrom (not verified) on Thu, 09/27/2007 - 09:07.

I do not know what to say, but may he rest in peace, and my condolences to his family.

Submitted by Gameboy (not verified) on Thu, 09/27/2007 - 09:58.

Death is a terrible and senseless thing. We can never understand it. All we can do is accept it.

Rest in peace Joseph Howell! May your afterlife be joyous and may you develops awesome video games in heaven.

Submitted by lumi (not verified) on Thu, 09/27/2007 - 10:00.

Sincerest condolences to his family and friends. Speaking as someone who had a long-time family friend take her own life earlier this year, that is an incredibly sad and difficult thing to deal with.

I hope that they are receiving the support they need right now.

Submitted by Mutantemeco (not verified) on Thu, 09/27/2007 - 10:21.

RIP BRO THANX FOR THE ART!!!!!

Submitted by bayushisan (not verified) on Thu, 09/27/2007 - 10:35.

My heartfelt condolences to the friends and family. You will all be in my thoughts and prayers.

Submitted by RockstarGamesUncut » Blog Archive » R.I.P Rockst (not verified) on Thu, 09/27/2007 - 11:46.

[...] Source [...]

Submitted by Soul (not verified) on Thu, 09/27/2007 - 11:50.

May he RIP :( .

Submitted by Andrew (not verified) on Thu, 09/27/2007 - 11:57.

RIP, I love you Rockstar

Submitted by kurisu7885 (not verified) on Thu, 09/27/2007 - 12:30.

Rest in piece good sir.

Submitted by BaronJuJu (not verified) on Thu, 09/27/2007 - 14:14.

Condolences to his family and friends at this loss.

Submitted by DAVID LEE (not verified) on Thu, 09/27/2007 - 14:34.

R.I.P JOSEPH HOWELL, THANKS FOR THE MEMORIES AND GREAT GAMES!!
DEEPEST CONDOLENCES TO HIS FAMILY!!!

Submitted by jakethe8lf (not verified) on Thu, 09/27/2007 - 15:04.

Condolences to friends and family.

Submitted by chadachada (not verified) on Thu, 09/27/2007 - 18:49.

no matter what your religion is, rest in peace. Thx for everything, especially GTA

Submitted by DeadlyJ (not verified) on Thu, 09/27/2007 - 18:56.

Video Games Killed Him.

Submitted by agturboninja (not verified) on Thu, 09/27/2007 - 19:07.

Thanks for GTA. Condolences to friends and family.

Submitted by ZippyDSMlee (not verified) on Thu, 09/27/2007 - 20:37.

Death is a part of life it might shock the emotions in the heart but the mind knows it coming, like everythign else death/life come and go.

Submitted by Paul (not verified) on Thu, 09/27/2007 - 21:08.

My heart goes out to the loved ones he left behind.

Submitted by Mysticgamer (not verified) on Thu, 09/27/2007 - 21:14.

Rest in Peace

Submitted by Athest on Thu, 09/27/2007 - 21:55.

35... that really is a tragedy. I hope it was an easy passing, may he rest in peace. I may not have agreed with everything they put in the GTA games, but they were really incredible games.

/sigh

Submitted by GrlGmr (not verified) on Thu, 09/27/2007 - 23:04.

It's always sad when someone leaves too soon.

Thanks for some great games.

Submitted by VenomandCarnage (not verified) on Fri, 09/28/2007 - 03:21.

I propose a toast to Joseph Howell, for his accomplishments in life, and for the hope that he finds peace in death. *raises glass" cheers.

Submitted by nickstudking (not verified) on Fri, 09/28/2007 - 14:16.

soooo how did he die?

Submitted by atxjim (not verified) on Fri, 09/28/2007 - 14:32.

I used to work with Joe back at Acclaim Studios Austin. Sad to hear of his passing -- he was a smart guy and an interesting character. My condolences to his friends and family. R.I.P. Joe.

Submitted by Donald Mcdonald (not verified) on Fri, 09/28/2007 - 17:37.

Its a Lie he's not dead, and this info doesn't explain how he died or if he was killed, so its a rumor.

Submitted by MasterAssassin (not verified) on Fri, 09/28/2007 - 23:24.

RIP

I feel bad for his family.

Submitted by Grizz (not verified) on Sat, 09/29/2007 - 01:12.

Why did my comment get removed...? I posted just after "Unrated" on the 27th of Sept.... yet I find no trace of my post... THANKS FOR LETTING ME KNOW GP! Would've been nice to get an e-mail informing me or something...

Submitted by Grizz (not verified) on Sat, 09/29/2007 - 01:16.

Oh, and seeing as my big post was removed, I'll just say this:

R.I.P. and condolences to the family.

Submitted by Bull Toru (not verified) on Tue, 10/02/2007 - 10:07.

Rest In Peace dude, I hope that you had a good life.

I can't thank you enough for some incredible games.

Submitted by GTAF (not verified) on Sun, 10/14/2007 - 10:19.

His father's rants:

http://www.gtaforums.com/index.php?showtopic=297224

Submitted by jill howell (not verified) on Mon, 10/15/2007 - 13:12.

Joe I love you. mom

Shout box

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RedMage: Brutal Legend.02/10/2012 - 7:52pm

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james_fudge: I hope you some said something sassy! Where's the link?02/09/2012 - 7:46pm

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james_fudge: Thanks for the heads-up DorthLous02/09/2012 - 4:33pm

DorthLous: Will do, my apologies.02/09/2012 - 4:14pm

Andrew Eisen: I appreciate the heads up but please keep typo alerts to the specific article's comments or PMs.02/09/2012 - 3:33pm

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All shouts

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