Star Trek is often listed as one of the factors that led a good many game developers to begin dreaming of doing wonderful things, especially for those people who would eventually go on to make wide open-world space games such as Eve Online and Elite: Dangerous. So the passing away of Leonard Nimoy who played the popular and fondly-remembered character Spock has understandably prompted tributes from studios across the industry.
Upon hearing the news, most studios took to their Twitter accounts and other social networks to post the news and their condolences to his family and friends.
o7 Mister Nimoy, you will be missed. pic.twitter.com/Ah0Bn0LNGP
— EVE Online (@EveOnline) February 27, 2015
RIP Leonard Nimoy #LLAP and Thank you! pic.twitter.com/hUbXDg2GiD — Konami (@Konami) February 27, 2015
Peace and long life. #LLAP pic.twitter.com/2YS1DwmKoV
— World of Warcraft (@Warcraft) February 27, 2015
A blast from the past with Leonard Nimoy. LLAP http://t.co/klK4abC6YB — Star Trek Online (@trekonlinegame) February 27, 2015
The last of those above, Star Trek Online by Cryptic Studios obviously did a bit more than tweet though. Nimoy had been involved with the game, helping to announce it back in 2008, and recording lines for the game although Spock doesn't appear in the game himself. Shortly after the news had been announced they requested that players join them in-game on the planet of Vulcan for a solemn vigil in which to pay respects. Many players flocked to stand around a fountain on the planet, with many instances of the location having to be created so while for players it seemed that they were only one of about 20 people in reality across all created instances there were over a thousand players standing in tribute for Nimoy.
The news was also announced last night on the game's forums that Cryptic will be adding a memorial to the game this Thursday as part of the game's weekly updates.
I want to once again express my heartfelt condolences to the friends, family, and fans of Leonard Nimoy. Everyone at Cryptic Studios was saddened to hear of his passing and we want to make sure we never forget the cultural impact of the man or the character he played. To that end, the Star Trek Online team will implement a standing in-game memorial to Spock and Leonard Nimoy this Thursday March 5th with our regular weekly maintenance.
In this way, we hope to keep his memory as alive in our game as he is in all of our hearts.#
LLAP
Steve Ricossa
Executive Producer
Elite: Dangerous has also announced the addition of a tribute in-game for Nimoy, planning to add a new space station to the LHS 3006 system orbiting the game's version of the planet Vulcan. It will be named 'Nimoy Station'.