Half-Life 2 art director Viktor Antonov has passed away at age 52
Viktor Antonov, a highly influential artist best known for his work on Half-Life 2 and Dishonored, has sadly passed away at age 52.
The details:
Half-Life writer Marc Laidlaw revealed Antonov's passing via Instagram on Sunday (via LambdaGeneration). While Laidlaw stated that he had no further details about the death, he paid tribute to the art director, stating that he was "brilliant and original" and "made everything better."
Following the news, tributes poured in from across the industry, including stories from Antonov's time working on Dishonored shared by Arkane Studios founder Raphael Colantonio, former Bethesda PR and marketing head Pete Hines, and former Arkane creative director Harvey Smith. “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,” Colantonio wrote on X. “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.”
After moving from Bulgaria to France at the age of 17, Antonov joined Gray Matter Studios' predecessor, Xatrix Entertainment, in the 1990s before arriving at Valve. During his time at Valve, he worked as the art director for Half-Life 2, bringing the iconic City 17 to life, and also assisted with Counter-Strike: Source. The artist would then leave Valve to join Arkane, where he would serve as the visual design director for Dishonored, and help create other Bethesda titles such as Wolfenstein: The New Order and Fallout 4.
