Kotaku’s Mike Fahey, beloved ‘big kid’ of video games journalism, dies at 49

polygon.com:

Mike Fahey of Kotaku, one of the longest-tenured writers at one of video gaming’s oldest and most read online publications, died on Friday. He was 49. Over 16 years, Fahey wrote with great hilarity and deep affection for toys, snacks, giant robots, video games, and the emotional ties binding them all to his readership.

Fahey’s death was confirmed Friday by his partner, Eugene Abbott. In 2018, Fahey suffered an aortic dissection, which is a tearing of the body’s main artery, that paralyzed him from the chest down and forced him to use a wheelchair. Fahey suffered another such tear in April, and he died of an infection related to these chronic health issues.

Mike Fahey joined Kotaku in 2006, after establishing an online presence with comical posts about a Pikachu plushie gone missing. “He had a Pikachu that people kept kidnapping,” Abbott told Polygon. “People would hold up a sign saying ‘We have your Pikachu.’ I think the last time it was seen, it was strapped to the front of an 18-wheeler.”

Brian Crecente, the editor-in-chief of Kotaku from 2005 to 2011, recalled that Fahey was a commenter on a blog he had started prior to Kotaku’s founding. When Crecente was named Kotaku editor, Fahey was his first hire.

“The reason I hired him, and the reason he continued working there, is he was such a naturally funny guy,” Crecente said. “So many who try to write funny stuff, it comes of forced, but for him, it was an innate ability. It was just so natural. I pushed him to do investigative stuff and longer-form writing, but I think the thing he liked most was making people laugh.”

Fahey climbed out of his shell when Crecente hired him in November 2006. He remained on staff ever since. “I once again had a job, a girlfriend, and