{"id":5467,"date":"2022-08-20T22:19:22","date_gmt":"2022-08-20T22:19:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.bwgamespot.com\/index.php\/2022\/08\/20\/indie-developer-rob-hale-has-died-posthumously-making-their-games-free-to-enjoy\/"},"modified":"2022-08-20T22:19:22","modified_gmt":"2022-08-20T22:19:22","slug":"indie-developer-rob-hale-has-died-posthumously-making-their-games-free-to-enjoy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.bwgamespot.com\/index.php\/2022\/08\/20\/indie-developer-rob-hale-has-died-posthumously-making-their-games-free-to-enjoy\/","title":{"rendered":"Indie developer Rob Hale has died, posthumously making their games free to enjoy"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Indie game developer Rob Hale, also known as Squid in a Box, died of cancer earlier this month. Hale&#8217;s partner, CJ, revealed the news in an <a href=\"https:\/\/steamcommunity.com\/app\/217120\/discussions\/0\/5733664933461392610\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">announcement<\/a> on the Steam forums of Hale&#8217;s next game, Waves 2. Per Hale&#8217;s final wishes, CJ has made the developer&#8217;s games <a href=\"https:\/\/store.steampowered.com\/app\/107600\/Waves\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Waves<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/store.steampowered.com\/app\/217120\/Waves_2_Notorious\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Waves 2<\/a> free to download on Steam.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;This was something Rob was considering anyway within the past two months as their health entered into more substantial difficulties,&#8221; CJ stated, &#8220;I hope this can be seen as a parting gift to all those out there that haven\u2019t yet played either of these games.&#8221;\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Hale&#8217;s first project, Waves, was released in 2011. It&#8217;s a mellow twin-stick shooter with a distinctive trance-beat and chiptune soundtrack. Waves was a standout release in those earlier days of the Steam indie scene, and remains well-worth returning to more than ten years later.<\/p>\n<p>Hale&#8217;s follow up, Waves 2: Notorious, will remain preserved mid-development due to the developer&#8217;s untimely passing. &#8220;Over the years we were together they were always dreaming big and trying so hard to create the best game they could possibly make,&#8221; CJ continues in their tribute, &#8220;Waves 2 will definitely remain incomplete. But that doesn\u2019t take away from my awe and the pride I always had in Rob; to see someone so dedicated to their craft.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Rob Hale leveraged their experience in modding and AAA game development to pursue their passion independently, and the developer was kind enough to speak <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pcgamer.com\/the-indies-guide-to-game-making\/6\/?page=6\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">with PC Gamer<\/a> back in 2012, offering advice to anyone looking to start making games.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>In that interview, you can see the attitude of a person who loved what they did and wanted to share that passion with others. Making games was, as Rob quipped, &#8220;the reason I get up in the afternoon.&#8221; Hale&#8217;s body of work and the moving tribute left by their partner remain as a testament to that passion.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>[#item_image]Indie developer Rob Hale has died, posthumously making their games free to enjoy<!-- wp:html --><\/p>\n<p>Indie game developer Rob Hale, also known as Squid in a Box, died of cancer earlier this month. Hale&#8217;s partner, CJ, revealed the news in an <a href=\"https:\/\/steamcommunity.com\/app\/217120\/discussions\/0\/5733664933461392610\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">announcement<\/a> on the Steam forums of Hale&#8217;s next game, Waves 2. Per Hale&#8217;s final wishes, CJ has made the developer&#8217;s games <a href=\"https:\/\/store.steampowered.com\/app\/107600\/Waves\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Waves<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/store.steampowered.com\/app\/217120\/Waves_2_Notorious\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Waves 2<\/a> free to download on Steam.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;This was something Rob was considering anyway within the past two months as their health entered into more substantial difficulties,&#8221; CJ stated, &#8220;I hope this can be seen as a parting gift to all those out there that haven\u2019t yet played either of these games.&#8221;\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Hale&#8217;s first project, Waves, was released in 2011. It&#8217;s a mellow twin-stick shooter with a distinctive trance-beat and chiptune soundtrack. Waves was a standout release in those earlier days of the Steam indie scene, and remains well-worth returning to more than ten years later.<\/p>\n<p>Hale&#8217;s follow up, Waves 2: Notorious, will remain preserved mid-development due to the developer&#8217;s untimely passing. &#8220;Over the years we were together they were always dreaming big and trying so hard to create the best game they could possibly make,&#8221; CJ continues in their tribute, &#8220;Waves 2 will definitely remain incomplete. But that doesn\u2019t take away from my awe and the pride I always had in Rob; to see someone so dedicated to their craft.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Rob Hale leveraged their experience in modding and AAA game development to pursue their passion independently, and the developer was kind enough to speak <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pcgamer.com\/the-indies-guide-to-game-making\/6\/?page=6\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">with PC Gamer<\/a> back in 2012, offering advice to anyone looking to start making games.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>In that interview, you can see the attitude of a person who loved what they did and wanted to share that passion with others. Making games was, as Rob quipped, &#8220;the reason I get up in the afternoon.&#8221; Hale&#8217;s body of work and the moving tribute left by their partner remain as a testament to that passion.<\/p>\n<p><!-- \/wp:html --><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":5468,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[20],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.bwgamespot.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5467"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.bwgamespot.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.bwgamespot.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.bwgamespot.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5467"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blog.bwgamespot.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5467\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.bwgamespot.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5468"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.bwgamespot.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5467"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.bwgamespot.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5467"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.bwgamespot.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5467"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}