Viktor Antonov, the key mind behind Half-Life 2's City 17, has died

Former Valve and Arkane colleagues pay tribute

One of video gaming's great urban fabulists, Half-Life 2 art director and Dishonored visual designer Viktor Antonov, has died at the young age of 52.

While there has yet to be a formal announcement from Antonov's family, several of his old colleagues have posted goodbye messages on social media. "I didn't want to say much till I felt it was confirmed, but I learned today that Viktor Antonov, our visionary art lead on HL2, has died," Half-Life writer Marc Laidlaw wrote in an Instagram post passed on by Eurogamer. "I don't have details. Just sadness. Brilliant and original. Made everything better."

"RIP Viktor Antonov," added WolfEye Studios creative director and Arkane founder Raphael Colantonio on Twitter. "I wish I told you how much admiration I had for you but we get caught in our lives until a surprise lime this hits us. You were instrumental to the success of Arkane Studios and an inspiration to many of us, also a friend with whom I have many fond memories."

Born in Sofia, Bulgaria, Antonov started out in gaming as a map painter for Redneck Rampage in 1997. He subsequently worked on art deco-inspired shooter Kingpin: Life Of Crime, before landing a reputation-making job at Valve in 2004. He was the principle mind behind Half-Life 2's City 17, a wintry expanse of Brutalist concrete and Combine panopticons, which continues to influence more pessimistic sci-fi game developers today. I'm confess, I'm more fond of his achievements as visual designer for Dishonored's oily brickwork labyrinth Dunwall.

Following the release of Dishonored, Antonov worked in more of a supporting role on several ZeniMax Media projects. He consulted on development of 2016's Doom reboot and 2017's Prey. He also worked on a number of cancelled games, including Arkane's hybrid FPS The Crossing and Bethesda Game Studios Austin's multiplayer offering Battlecry. In 2022, Antonov co-founded Eschatology Entertainment to work on the mysterious Project DG, a game about a gunslinger exploring a world "on the verge of destruction".

Rest in peace.