Celebrated Saints Row modder Mike “IdolNinja” Watson has died.
Watson, who led the Saints Row 2 patch project at Volition, died yesterday after a long battle with cancer.
In May, Watson’s illness caused him to step down from his position as Volition community manager, although he continued to work on the Saints Row 2 patch project.
Watson was behind the mod that tackled issues with the PC port of Saints Row 2, dubbed the Gentlemen of the Row mod, as well as mods for Saints Row: The Third and Saints Row 4.
He eventually became Volition community manager and the lead on a project to restore Saints Row 2 using the game’s once thought lost source code.
Writing in a post on ResetEra, Volition lead game designer Ryan McCabe paid tribute to Watson:
“One of my Volition besties, Mike Watson, passed this morning after battling cancer for well over a year. He’d known for some time that it was a battle he was ultimately going to lose, so many of us did as well. That doesn’t make you ready for it.