Crackdown 3 Mike Forgey tribute memorializes developer who passed away

A Crackdown 3 Mike Forgey tribute has led Xbox head Phil Spencer to share his experience upon discovering the acknowledgment. Mike Forgey, who worked at games companies Microsoft and Monolith Studios, passed away in 2016. The tribute comes in the form of Mike Forgey being available as a playable character within Crackdown 3.

Phil Spencer tweeted:

While working at Microsoft, Forgey worked on games like Fable and Gears of War 2. Forgey then went on to be a producer at Monolith Productions, working on Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor [via DBLTAP]. Monolith Productions created their own tribute to the producer in 2017’s Shadow of War. In the game, Forgey appeared in the form of a DLC character called Forthog Orc-Slayer. According to Eurogamer, this was a tribute to the band he played in with other Monolith staff called “Orc Slayer.” There was some controversy surrounding this inclusion due to WB Games making money from this DLC content. However, the publisher eventually chose to donate the money from sales of the DLC to the Forgey family.

Following Mike Forgey’s death from brain cancer in 2016, Monolith Productions joined forces with Crackdown 3 developers Sumo Digital and Bungie to raise more money for the Forgey family. The game companies held auctions to gain support, with Sumo Digital offering players the opportunity to appear in-game alongside their Crackdown 3 Mike Forgey tribute.

Upon Forgey’s death, Monolith Productions vice president Kevin Stephens said, “Mike was larger than life. Mike was an incredible inspiration to our team. He was our front man in many respects. Everybody loved Mike.”

Director of art Phil Straub added “Mike was a fantastic guy. He was a guy who always wanted to help people. He was a great manager of people. He’s going to the Undying Lands. He’s embracing that.”