Life and Times: Video game developer and musician was fearless

Skye James Wesley Boyes, 1982 — 2015 Skye Boyes was an early example of a successful independent game developer emerging from Edmonton. After studying computer science at the University of Alberta, he founded XGen Studios and achieved major online success with Stick RPG in 2003. XGen went on to develop titles including Motherload, Defend Your Castle and Super Motherload, expanding from browser-based Flash games to Nintendo and PlayStation platforms. Boyes’ work helped establish an independent game-development presence in Edmonton alongside the city’s larger studios. Motherload was also cited as an influence on Infiniminer, which in turn influenced Minecraft, giving Boyes’ early work an unexpected connection to one of the industry’s most influential games. Following his death in 2015 at age 32, XGen continued under his wife Kaelyn and art director Scott Carmichael, with completion of The Low Road identified as the studio’s immediate priority and a continuation of Boyes’ legacy.