In a heartfelt article published on the PlayStation Blog, numerous developers from the PlayStation Studios family shared some of their favorite fan interactions during their careers at Sony. While the entire article is a heartwarming read, one particular story stuck out to us.
Sucker Punch Productions’ Animation Director, Billy Harper, revealed that an in-game store in Infamous First Light was named after a late fan named Rayshawn, who was suffering from a terminal illness when Second Son was still in development. Unfortunately, Rayshawn was battling the last stages of his illness at the time, and wouldn’t have made it to Second Son‘s launch. The team at Sucker Punch decided to pay Rayshawn a visit, and he also received a video call from Delsin Rowe voice actor, Troy Baker. Alongside giving him some Second Son merchandise and letting him play a pre-release copy of the title, Sucker Punch named a fictional video game store in the standalone First Light expansion after him.
Harper wrote:
Rayshawn was a huge Infamous fan who was very excited about Second Son. However, odds were very low that he would live to play it. So, dressed as various Second Son cast members, we knocked on Rayshawn’s door and asked him to hide us from the DUP. As a reward for his bravery, he got to play the gold disc version of Second Son pre-release. We also gave him the Delsin vest and beanie that were scanned for the costume in the game. To top it all off, Troy Baker FaceTimed him. We ultimately named one of the fictional stores in Infamous First Light ‘Rayshawn Games’ in honor of him. The impact he had on me was priceless. This kid’s positive attitude while dealing with the final stages of a terminal illness and his mantra N.E.G.U (Never Ever Give Up) has helped me through various personal rough spots since that day.
Rest in peace, Rayshawn.
[Source: PS Blog]
