EA’s former senior vice president, David DeMartini, has passed away at the age of 56.
Veteran journalist and producer Geoff Keighley relayed the news through Facebook, where he praised DeMartini’s impact on the industry.
Polygon later reported that DeMartini had suffered fatal complications from a lung transplant.
Before venturing into the games industry, DeMartini served as a senior director at Autodesk for four years and was responsible for the development and marketing of all CAD products under $500.
DeMartini eventually joined EA in 1999 as senior vice president, and would go on to stay with the firm for over 15 years, working on a number of game projects including Tiger Woods PGA Tour and The Godfather and overseeing the publishing giant’s Origin digital distribution platform.
In December 2013, DeMartini left EA to explore the world of virtual reality with Oculus as the company’s head of worldwide publishing.
His time there, however, only lasted eight months, and in July 2014 DeMartini stepped down to start his own consulting agency in Foster City, California.