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Celebrated Game Developer Rebecca Heineman Dies at Age 62
Rebecca Heineman co-founded Interplay and contributed to 67 games, including Fallout and Baldur's Gate, before succumbing to aggressive adenocarcinoma, her GoFundMe stated.
- Rebecca Heineman has died at 62, and her final GoFundMe update said treatments for an aggressive adenocarcinoma were no longer effective and asked for donations for a funeral.
- Medical notes say she had an aggressive adenocarcinoma, a glandular cancer affecting organs like the lungs, stomach, pancreas, and colon, with treatments including surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation.
- Born in 1963, Rebecca Heineman first rose to prominence by winning a national Space Invaders tournament in New York in 1980 and co-founded Interplay in 1983, helping create Wasteland, Fallout and Baldur's Gate.
- Friends and colleagues confirmed her passing on Bluesky, calling her a 'trailblazing game industry bad-ass'; Heineman expressed a wish to reunite with her late wife, Jennell Jaquays.
- She came out as transgender in the early 2000s and later won the Gayming Icon Award, 2025, recognizing her advocacy for LGBTQ+ inclusion and accessibility in gaming.
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Rebecca Heineman, a member of Interplay and the first national video game champion in the USA, died of cancer at the age of 62. The programmer tested the gaming industry with numerous classics of the early gaming years. (Continue reading)
Rebecca Heineman, one of Interplay Entertainment's co-founders – a central programmer and the designer of The Bard's Tale 3 – died. She became 62 years old. more
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Leaning Left0Leaning Right1Center3Last UpdatedBias Distribution75% Center
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- 75% of the sources are Center
75% Center
C 75%
R 25%
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