Think science is a close community?  Indeed it is, but video game aficionados are not as shallow as they are portrayed either.

Relic Entertainment developer Brian Wood, aged 33, was driving his Subaru Outback with his pregnant wife in the passenger seat when a Chevy Blazer veered into their lane.   At the last moment before impact, Wood hit the brakes and turned to place himself in the path of the SUV and shield his wife.  The other driver is alleged to have been under the influence of drugs, two passengers in the back seat of her Blazer were killed ... and so was Wood.

Police told her if he had not turned the vehicle they would all be dead.



Wood was working on Company of Heroes Online, a free-to-play version of Relic’s strategy game when he died.  Within days of the news, journalists, fans and other developers rallied to support Wood's pregnant widow, establishing the Brian Wood Memorial Trust.

It's a good moment for video game culture, and in general.  Obviously people die in car accidents all over the world, and there are murders and natural disasters, but it's good that communities don't get jaded by and still celebrate someone who clearly helped bring millions a great deal of entertainment while he was here.