On Thursday, January 29, friend and former Joystiq editor Andrew Yoon tragically drowned while on vacation in Austin, Texas. He was 29. Following his tenure at Joystiq, I was fortunate enough to convince Andrew to pick up his life in New York and join me in Los Angeles as part of the Shacknews editorial team. In 2012, Andrew became the site's Editor-in-Chief. But Andrew outgrew his passion for writing about games and his ambition rekindled a childhood dream to create a game of his own. In September 2014, Andrew and his partners secured over $16,000 in funding in a Kickstarter campaign to develop Divorce! The Card Game, which is set to launch later this month. In January, he and a team of creators won an award at GXDev 2015 for the game Cactus Seeking Hug (play it, it's brilliant). Andrew was a spirited friend and co-worker, with an unrivaled passion and vast void for a stomach. He was always cheerful, stylish and hungry. His slim frame could consume an ungodly amount of food – seriously, his Twitter was 90% photos of things he was about to eat. He was kind and funny, a conversation with him was always guaranteed to bring a smile to your face. If you needed help, like a couch to crash on, he was there. At one point in our lives we managed an editorial team together; we shared airtime on the podcast Weekend Confirmed; heck, we even lived in the same small apartment complex in Los Angeles. Although our interactions became limited to small conversations and giggles between meetings at press events in recent years, I will always consider him a friend. Our condolences go out to Andrew's friends, family and colleagues at his startup Anyo. For those able, a memorial fund has been set up to cover burial costs and to honor his memory. Joystiq Editor-in-Chief Ludwig Kietzmann remembers his dear friend in a letter after the break.
By Xav de Matos
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