Dennis Schiefer, a veteran producer with a seven-year tenure at Black Forest Games, has passed away.
Adrian Goersch, CEO and founder of Black Forest Games, a THQ Nordic Studio, shared the news two days ago via LinkedIn. “It is with great sadness that I must share the news that Dennis Schiefer, a long-standing producer at #BlackForestGames, passed away last week,” he wrote. “We are all shocked and heartbroken.”
Goersch explained that Schiefer joined the studio back in 2016 and had a seven-year tenure until he took a break in 2023. “Dennis was kind, friendly, and always there for others,” he added. “We never expected that he wouldn’t come back.”
The CEO considers Schiefer an exceptional producer, with credits on 2020’s Destroy All Humans! remake, as well as Destroy All Humans! 2: Reprobed. According to his Moby Games profile, Schiefer is also credited as producer for Fade to Silence, Bubsy: The Woolies Strike Back, and Rogue Stormers.
Many fellow devs replied to Goersch’s write-up expressing condolences, as well as sharing fond memories about Schiefer’s impact on the industry and the people in it.
“Sincerely sad to read this,” current DICE game designer and former Black Forest mission designer Andrea Villa wrote. “He was indeed a good human. My condolences especially to his loved ones, but I think everyone that got to know him even a little bit (like myself) will feel the loss.”
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Daniel Görlich, professor and head of the “Virtual Worlds and Game Technologies” Bachelor of Science Study Program at the Offenburg University of Applied Sciences, said that he had the privilege of working with Schiefer during the current summer semester until last month. “He taught project design and project management with such passion and expertise,” Görlich wrote.
Isabel Stiefvatter, a student and former intern at Black Forest, echoed the sentiment: “He had a lot of experience that he was always eager to share with us students at Hs Offenburg, he was cheerful and motivating, even very understanding when someone had questions or didn’t understand something right away (speaking from personal experience). He was a happy man. This is shocking to me. I wish all the best to everyone that knew him. May the memories with him be cherished.”