Rare pays tribute to Robert Ashby

gamesindustry.biz:

Rare Ltd

Monday 18th July 2022

A few weeks ago, Rare received the tragic news of the passing of Rob Ashby.

Rob was the stalwart of our customer service and support teams, taking care of online safety and security across our studio and games. In the six years Rob was with us at Rare, he grew our customer service capability for Sea of Thieves as it grew from pre-launch to the at-scale game it is today.

Although a private person, Rob was a friend, colleague, mentor and crewmate to so many of us at Rare, and equally to our partner teams. We all thought the world of him, and the news of his passing has weighed heavy on us all. Rob was a kind and thoughtful person; someone who dedicated his career to the incredibly important work that goes on behind-the-scenes to make games what they are.

In his 22 years in our industry, Rob worked for some of the biggest names in gaming: Sony Online Entertainment, Blizzard, ZeniMax Online and Jagex, before he joined Rare in 2016. We know that he will have made an impact on so many of you in those two decades, and we wanted you -- as his peers and ex-colleagues -- to hear the news from us directly.

Robert Ashby, Rare

To remember Rob is to remember his kindness and his generosity -- in his spirit and in the way he treated others. Rob was unfailingly kind to those who worked around him and for him.

Veronica Heath remembers the early days of her career at Rare, and a time she'd been asked to feature on a weekly stream: "I was concerned that my pirate wouldn't look 'seasoned' enough to our community, as I'd only been playing a short while, but Rob came to my rescue. He gave my character all the cool stuff you could get at the time and helped me gain a couple of levels on my pirate before I went on