After David Lynch passes away, the gaming industry pays tribute

We were all caught by surprise with the news that the great director and filmmaker David Lynch had passed away this week at the age of 78. Lynch rose to fame with films like Eraserhead, Blue Velvet, and the cult TV series Twin Peaks throughout the 80s and 90s, which ended up influencing many directors in the gaming industry.

Although his strange and surreal approach to filmmaking inspired several other Hollywood big names, Lynch also had an impact on video games, with several titles having (or claiming to have) a lynchian feel in their design. A series of video games with which he has a surprising connection? The Legend of Zelda games from Nintendo, as several key creatives behind the series have cited Twin Peaks as a catalyst behind some of the weirdest elements in various Zelda games.

Of course, we also had other great game directors commenting on the news. The creative director of Alan Wake 2, Sam Lake, shared his condolences as the recent game starring the troubled author is heavily inspired by Lynch's work, with the first game having a strong Twin Peaks vibe in particular. 

"The internal codename for Alan Wake 2 was 'Big Fish'", wrote Lake, referring to Lynch's autobiographical self-help book. In another post on X, Lake commented on how Lynch was a big influence in his life.

The director of the game Death Stranding 2: On the Beach, Hideo Kojima, also bid farewell to the cinema legend with a post on X/Twitter. Kojima's work has been heavily influenced by cinema over the years, with his recent Death Stranding games also evoking a strange, but artistic direction that wouldn't be out of place in a Lynch film.

Another interesting tribute came from Sony, who shared an announcement that Lynch himself made for the PlayStation 2, 25 years ago!

In addition to his work in films and TV, Lynch was also involved in several other projects. On YouTube, his regular weather reports were featured in hundreds of videos, he was a celebrated musician, and a prolific visual artist.

"It is with deep sorrow that we, his family, announce the passing of the man and artist, David Lynch. We would like some privacy at this time. There is a great hole in the world now that he is no longer with us. But, as he would say, 'Focus on the donut and not on the hole'", wrote Lynch's family in a Facebook post.