Ryan Davis

I woke today to the tragic news of the passing of Ryan Davis on July 3^rd. If you are in any way connected to the videogame industry then you may have heard of him, or the news as it broke late last night. What surprised me, and speaks to his personality and influence, was how crushed I felt as the reality of what had happened sunk in.

He was only 34, he was very recently married. These things are tragic and yet don't fully explain how devastated I felt. I did not know Ryan Davis. But I did.

For nearly three hours every week, as part of the Giant Bombcast, a gaming podcast, I listened to Ryan and the rest of the crew chat, joke, mess around and occasionally talk about videogames. That adds up to a lot of time over a few years. Giant Bomb as a website, if you are unfamiliar, is all about personality, and front and centre of this was Ryan. He was the glue that held the disparate parts together, his way of wrangling order from chaos was unmatched, his warmness, sense of humour and force of will, singular.

It feels selfish to put what has happened in the context of me, but it's all I know. Along with much of the internet today my thoughts and prayers go out to those who really knew him, who worked with him and loved him. I'm just a fan, a listener who will never again get to hear him excitedly announce a new show, or make a fool of himself on camera for the pure amusement and entertainment of others. I'm struck by how, in this modern age you can feel a connection with people you never meet, who live lives completely removed from your own. It's a wonderful gift. But today it hurts.

The comments that have poured out today speak to this, thousands revealing of how their lives were made better by another as tribute. That speaks to the best of this world, in times when so often on the internet the opposite is all we see.

But mostly it speak to Ryan and the person he was.

I didn't know him, but I miss him all the same.