Tim LeTourneau, long-time The Sims producer, has died.
Confirmation of LeTourneau’s death was reportedly shared by his wife, notable Sims voice actor Donna, and then shared on Facebook and Reddit by colleagues devastated by the news.
LeTourneau worked at Maxis for eight years, and then at EA for a further five after it acquired The Sims’ studio. In 2011, he joined Zynga, where he worked for almost four years before joining Storm8 as chief creative officer. He then briefly popped back to Zynga before joining Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment. He was most recently employed at Fortis Games as a senior advisor.
Among LeTourneau’s credits are SimCity 3000, The Sims, The Sims 2, MySims, and FarmVille 2.
Jonathan Knight, who worked with LeTourneau at EA, Zynga, and Warner Bros., said in a heartfelt tribute: “Mentor is too small a word for the relationship that followed. Nine years at EA. Five years at Zynga. Four years at WB. Our lives and work kept intersecting, and I never stopped learning from him, even when we butted heads (and he was, of course, usually right).
“The phrase ‘in the trenches with the team’ was basically invented for Tim. He was a servant leader before we called it that. At Maxis, he was famous for ‘managing by walking around’. He said hi to everyone, called everyone by name, and he knew the power of a smile. He engendered loyalty everywhere he went. He was a glorious gossip. He was always early, and usually the last to leave. He made the work fun. He cared so much.”
A 3D artist who said LeTourneau had “changed [their] life” when he took them on “at the age of 23 with no experience and no professional training, just a ton of passion for making games” similarly made a touching tribute.
“The entire Maxis family is shocked and devastated to hear that we lost Tim LeTourneau this weekend,” they wrote. “Making a Sims game is incredibly difficult and takes hundreds of thousands of hours from hundreds of people in many disciplines. Tim’s job was to see that it all came together, that people were treated fairly, and that the fans got the best game we could deliver. He did all of that and more, with a big smile and a dose of his generous laughter.
“The real beauty of The Sims was always the commitment to inclusiveness, openness, and the humanity of not only our simulated people, but the real ones who bring them to life. It’s difficult to keep such projects true their original vision and free of the worst impulses of corporate owned game development and as a producer Tim was the best there has ever been. He was mentor to a lucky few, was a friend to a great many, a leader for thousands, and a champion for millions of gamers.
“There is a reason why I called it the Maxis family, because it has been that for most who work and worked there,” they concluded. “A place where we could all contribute our skills, passion, and visions while keeping our humor, our energy, and our sanity. Tim was a true father of that family.”