Bluepoint Games has revealed that its co-founder Andy O'Neil passed away on June 10th, aged 47.

O'Neil is perhaps most famous to Nintendo fans as the technical lead on Metroid Prime and Metroid Prime 2, and as principal engineer on Metroid Prime 3.

Originally from Birmingham in the UK, O'Neil relocated to Austin, Texas in the '90s to work for Acclaim on the likes of Turok: Rage Wars and Turok: Shadow of Oblivion. He later joined the nearby Retro Studios and made his name working on the Metroid Prime trilogy, some of the most beloved games in Nintendo's library.

In 2006, O'Neil departed Retro and founded Bluepoint Games, a company that would quickly find fame porting titles like God of War (PS2 to PS3), Metal Gear Solid (PS2 to PS3), Uncharted (PS3 to PS4) and Shadow of the Colossus (PS2 to PS4) to Sony hardware.

Bluepoint posted the following message to Facebook, confirming the sad news:

We are sad to announce the passing of one of our founders, Andy O’Neil. Andy was key in the formation of Bluepoint Games and his engineering prowess helped catapult a tiny two-person studio to where we are today.

Andy, never afraid of a challenge, drove us to undertake difficult projects and exceed expectations. He would remind us that we do this work not because it is easy, but because it is hard. He always pushed Bluepoint to do great things and we will continue his legacy. For the past 20 years, Andy called Austin his home. Always embraced the local lifestyle. Live music was a big part of him whether attending music festivals or playing his bass guitar for friends at home or around town. He loved the outdoors riding his mountain bike on the nature trails. He was always up for a great martini and enjoyed being with friends and making new ones. Andy’s contributions to the gaming industry will never be forgotten. We are saddened by his passing, but grateful he will forever be a part of our lives.

Our thoughts are with Andy's family and friends at this sad time.