We have some tragic news about Night in the Woods developer Alec Holowka, who was recently accused of harassment and abuse within the gaming industry. Originally, the allegations led to the postponement of Night in the Woods’ physical release and Holowka’s dismissal from his own studio – which fans assumed would be the worst of it. However, it now looks like things may have escalated in an unfortunate direction.

The indie developer has reportedly passed away, based on a tweet from his sister Eileen Mary Holowka. While Eileen’s Twitter is now protected, fans were able to preserve her message about Alec’s passing:

“Alec Holowka, my brother and best friend, has passed away this morning.

Those who know me will know that I believe that the survivors and I have always done everything possible to support the survivors, those with mental illness and those with chronic illness. Alec was a victim of abuse and also spent a lifetime fighting against mood and personality disorders. I will not pretend that he was not also responsible for causing harm, but deep down he was a person who only wanted to offer people attention and kindness. It took a while to discover how.

In recent years, with therapy and medication, Alec became a new person, the same person he had always been but without any darkness. He was calm and happy, positive and kind. Obviously, change is a slow process and it was not perfect, but I was working towards rehabilitation and a better life.

In recent days, he received the support of many Manitoba crisis services, and I want to thank everyone for their support. I want to thank Adam Saltsman for staying up late talking to us and reminding Alec that there was a future.

My family has been and always will be the most important thing for me. Please give us time to heal. We tried our best to support Alec, but in the end he felt he had lost too much.”

For now, the details behind Holowka’s untimely death are under wraps. We will report back if and when Holowka’s family and friends are ready to comment with further statements on the matter.