Virtual communities are actual communities, and the gamers of Onward, the immersive team-based VR military shooter, proved that this week after shedding one among their members in a tragic accident.
Austin Aiken, a tree service foreman in Florida, was an energetic Onward participant and the daddy of a two-year-old son, Aidan, together with his fiancée Nikki McKenzie. In Onward, he glided by “Capptin,” and was well-known to lots of the sport’s common gamers.
On May 1, Austin was killed in a bike accident. At 26 years previous, he died earlier than he was capable of amass financial savings or personal a house. Aiken’s household launched a GoFundMe campaign to assist McKenzie and their son cowl funds, and Onward developer Downpour Interactive posted a hyperlink to it in a subsequent update post to the sport on Steam and on the game’s subreddit.
“We also wanted to take a moment to acknowledge the recent passing away of a beloved member of the Onward community, Austin Aiken (better known in the community as ‘Capptin’),” the developer wrote.
As Road to VR reports, the Onward neighborhood rapidly exceeded the Aikens’ fundraising purpose, donating greater than $8,000 in 5 days.
Downpour Interactive have additionally added a tribute to Aiken into the sport – a set of canine tags hanging within the loadout tent bearing his title and deal with.
“We are absolutely blown away by the generosity of our community on the fundraiser and we’re extremely proud to have such incredible people playing our game,” the builders wrote.
Players who had encountered Aiken in sport left their ideas and condolences each on the GoFundMe web page and the Reddit submit.
“Capptin was on my team and he was a great dude and a great father. He was just a hard working young dad with allot of ambition,” one wrote.
“This is surreal, I played with him a day ago, dude was so funny and happy. I’ve only ever talked to him the one time we played but goddamn, this hurts,” mentioned one other.
McKenzie logged onto the Onward Discord server to thank her fiancé’s on-line associates.
“I just wanted to hop on here to thank each and every one of you from the bottom of my heart for the support. It makes my heart smile to see how many people he has touched here on the game,” she wrote. “Thank you again for all your kind words and donations.”
Source
