Back in February, we shared the sad news that composer Stan LePard had passed away. LePard was a renowned musical artist who’d penned music for a whole roster of video games, including more than 40 tracks for Guild Wars 2 over the last decade. For MMO players, his crowning achievement was surely the Metal Legion concert performance from the beginning of the Icebrood Saga, which he apparently mixed and mastered. And now, ArenaNet has added a memorial to his life inside the game – live with today’s balance update, in fact.
“ArenaNet is honoring Stan’s life, work, and contributions to Guild Wars 2 by creating an in-game memorial in his honor. In the May 11 game update, a charr NPC embodying Stan named Van Leopard will appear near the Grothmar Valley charr concert stage in the Crag as a nod to Stan’s work on the Metal Legion concert performance. Additionally, a statue memorial to Stan will appear in the city of Lion’s Arch and will allow players to listen to a music playlist of 10 of Stan’s top tracks chosen from his portfolio throughout Guild Wars 2’s history.”
ArenaNet notes that LePard’s fellow composers, including Maclaine Diemer, have sponsored three GDC scholarships in LePard’s name.
