GDC supports memorial fund for game developer Paul Steed

In August, the game industry lost one of its pioneer artists with the passing of Paul H. Steed, who served as a major 3D modeler for the Quake and Wing Commander series. He served as an Advisory Board member for the Game Developers Conference for a number of years, and now the Board is highlighting, via the official GDC website, a memorial fund to support his family in this tragic time. Steed spent more than two decades working as a video game artist, and had served on the GDC Advisory board for several years. In addition to working on some of the industry's most influential and critically-acclaimed titles, he also helped other game artists hone their craft with his Thinking Outside the Box column for Loonygames, and his numerous books on animating and modeling 3D characters. "Unlike most of us, Steed didn't labor in obscurity. If you were involved in games during the '90s -- whether as a professional or as a fan -- it was hard not to pay attention to Paul Steed. He worked on some of the seminal titles of the decade, notably the Wing Commander series and the Quake series," recalled Steve Theodore, a GDC Advisory Board member and technical art director at Undead Labs. "He produced the first demo for Xbox 360, presented a Game Career Seminar keynote at the Game Developers Conference, and was a leading exponent of art outsourcing -- proving that he could remain topical for nearly two decades. Always outspoken and always controversial, he was not a typical game artist -- but he was the most public exemplar of what we do for people both inside and outside the business." Those wishing to contribute to Steed's memorial fund, which was established by family members, can do so by donating at any Wells Fargo branch in the U.S., or via bank transfer using the supplied information. For the full details on the fund, please check out its designated page on the official GDC website, or contact GDC general manager Meggan Scavio for additional information.