With the passing of Jenny Esson, the gaming industry has lost a person who still had things to do.

Esson was a medical professional and a mental health consultant, who has played a pivotal role in the Xbox Game Studios-owned Ninja Theory‘s successful game, Hellblade: Senu’s Sacrifice – this game was discussing how a mental disease, namely the psychosis, could impact you. (And the fact that the game is getting a sequel should show how impactful the first one was.)

Esson’s immune system was unfortunately defeated by the coronavirus, meaning COVID-19 is slowly slipping into the gaming industry, aside from multiple studios moving to work from home, such as CD Projekt RED. The consultant, who was 45 years old when she passed away, was remembered by Ninja Theory on Twitter: „We’re saddened to hear of the passing of Jenny Esson, a friend and a contributor to Hellblade. One of our lived-experience partners, Jen was a ray of sunshine; teaching us the power of hope in difficult times. Jen told us she loved this scene so much. Her story lives on in Senua’s.”

Back in 2017, she told Gamesindustry that it was a huge privilege for her to work on Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice, as her perspective was also taken into consideration by the studio. „For me being involved, especially developing Senua’s character, has been important, and being able to bring in my perspective of what I see and what I hear, has been a real privilege. Some tough subjects in there are being tackled with honesty,” she said.

It’s possible that the sequel, Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II, which was announced a few months ago, with more information hopefully to come shortly, will be affected by Esson’s death. The game is in development for Xbox Series X and PC. May she rest in peace.

Source: PSL