The team at Astroneer developer System Era Softworks announced today that studio cofounder Paul Pepera passed away yesterday due to undisclosed circumstances.

"Many knew Paul in this industry as an artistic tour de force. His talent left an imprint on this game industry that inspired countless others," reads an excerpt of System Era's memorial post. "He was one quarter of our founding team, and a boundless source of inspiration and beauty. Most of all to us, he was a warm and compassionate close friend."

Pepera had more than a decade of experience in the game industry, contributing his artistic skills to projects at studios like id, Valve, and 343 Industries.

In 2014 he cofounded System Era along with some fellow Halo devs from 343, and together they explored the strange new world of indie life, launching Astroneer onto Steam's Early Access service late last year.