He deserves way better than “lead designer of Fallout 76“.
Sad news, today, as we’ve lost a real one. Ferret Baudoin, most recently the lead designer of Fallout 76, has died. His passing on October 15th was very sudden, though it is a comfort to know that he was “surrounded by his family and friends.”.
The news was spread on Twitter via former Fallout 76 project lead Jeff Gardiner, who had worked with Baudoin for years.
Emil Pagliarulo (@Dezinuh above) paid tribute to their fallen friend as well, Tweeting the following thread:
As noted in Pagliarulo’s tweets, Baudoin had recently been at work on the upcoming Starfield. And to make no mention of his past work would be a disservice. Baudoin quest designer and writer on Fallout 4 before working on Fallout 76, and had been with Bethesda for 10 years. Before that, he worked at BioWare as a lead designer, working on titles such as Dragon Age: Origins and Dragon Age 2, as well as their DLC’s. Before that, he was with Obsidian Entertainment, having worked on Neverwinter Nights 2. He also briefly worked at Black Isle Studios as a designer on both the original Fallout 3 (famously scrapped), and the original Baldur’s Gate 3 (which also never saw the light of day).
Baudoin’s real first name was Eric, but for reasons he never seemed to explain, had been going by the nickname Ferret since at least the late 80’s, according to one poster in the Reddit thread announcing his death.
As someone who knew him personally, I know that he would prefer to be known as “Ferret.” I’m also sure he would have appreciated everyone’s kind words and appreciation for his work.
TheRockingDead
Could you explain the nickname to those of us who weren’t as fortunate to know him like you did?
the_slate
I wish I could. He actually guarded it fairly closely. I asked him once years ago when I first met him, and I always meant to ask him once I knew him better, but alas, the opportunity never came up again, and now it never will. I’m not sure it’s the sort of thing he wanted to be public. It always felt very personal to him. I only knew him as Ferret.
TheRockingDead
I can confirm that he was using that nickname as far back as his freshman year in college, when I met him in 1989. I’m not sure he would have told you no matter how well you knew him; I lived in the dorm room next to him for three years and he was best man at my wedding, and I don’t know where it came from.
I do know he had fun with it when he visited Ireland. At the time there was a fad in the country that involved shoving a ferret down your trousers, and he used it as a pick-up line!
HammerOfTheHeretics
As an aside, his family could use some help in the wake of his passing. I’m sure they would appreciate any donation you could make.
Source: PC Gamer
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