SonyDutch developer Guerrilla Games – most recently known for its work on the incredible PlayStation 4 exclusive Horizon Zero Dawn – revealed some tragic news towards the end of E3 2019.
The studio announced that its lead producer Patrick Munnik has passed away, at just 44 years old. Guerrilla took to Twitter to deliver the news, writing that Munnik is “no longer with us”, but also noting that the studio is “eternally grateful” to him.
It is with great shock and sadness we inform you that our lead producer Patrick Munnik is no longer with us. We are eternally grateful to have had our greatly valued and much loved Patrick on our team. pic.twitter.com/IpeNvSMmht
— Guerrilla (@Guerrilla) June 13, 2019
Guerrilla wrote:
It is with great shock and sadness we inform you that our lead producer Patrick Munnik is no longer with us. We are eternally grateful to have had our greatly valued and much loved Patrick on our team.
Munnik joined Guerrilla as a senior producer in 2011, where he worked on both Horizon Zero Dawn and Killzone: Shadow Fall. Both are well-loved titles with dedicated fans – particularly Horizon Zero Dawn, which won a number of awards and was a critical and commercial smash for Sony when it launched back in 2017.
Munnik’s legacy won’t just be as someone who worked on great games, though, but also as a good, decent human being. His passing triggered an outpouring of support and love from people across the industry, including Herman Hulst – Guerrilla’s co-founder and managing director – who took to Twitter to share his own tribute to Munnik, who he described as a “reassuring presence.”
He wrote:
My heart aches for Patrick’s wife and children. His reassuring presence, his great humor, and most importantly, his friendship will be sorely missed by our entire the team.
As the team at Guerrilla move forward on the sequel to Horizon Zero Dawn, they will undoubtedly be doing so with Munnik’s legacy in mind. Our thoughts are with Munnik’s friends, family, and colleagues during this difficult time.
Ewan Moore is a journalist at UNILAD Gaming who still quite hasn’t gotten out of his mid 00’s emo phase. After graduating from the University of Portsmouth in 2015 with a BA in Journalism & Media Studies (thanks for asking), he went on to do some freelance words for various places, including Kotaku, Den of Geek, and TheSixthAxis, before landing a full time gig at UNILAD in 2016.