James visited Creative last summer and was shown the game and given time with it. He also interviewed key staff and gave his own suggestions. Shortly after his visit he passed away.
James was fighting liver cancer and unfortunately treatment couldn’t save him. His time at Creative was organised by charity Willow as part of their Special Day campaign.
A terminally ill individual is given a special event they can attend to hopefully make their last few days less about their disease, and spend more time with friends and family doing something they enjoy. Creative Assembly’s community manager Craig Laycock was ”inundated with emails offering help with James’ day,” he said.
”The tour organised itself, as the guys around me scrambled to show James what’s going into making Rome 2.”
”James was remarkable on the day. His enthusiasm knew no bounds. He asked passionate questions and offered clear and concise suggestions on features for the game,” recounted Laycock. ”When I recently learned that James had died, it was devastating. Even though I had only spent a few hours in his company, it was absolutely devastating, because he was able to show us all here in the studio how passionate he was for our games.”
”And although he won’t get the chance to see Rome 2 released,” he continued, ”he will live on in some small way in our game - and every time I see him I’ll be reminded of what a great guy he was.”
”In many ways, James represented what’s best about working in video games: crafting games that people enjoy and that stay with them. It’s why we all do what we do, and why we’re so passionate about it. He really brought that home to us.”
Total War: Rome 2 releases on PC later in the year. So far seven of eight factions have been revealed. For more information about the Willow Foundation check out the official website.
