After a community campaign, Starfield offers a touching tribute to fan who passed away

Starfield contains an in-game tribute to a fan who sadly passed away before the game's launch.

According to one Starfield early access player, the note just below can be found when the player first enters The Eye. The note is actually written from the perspective of Alex Hay himself, who passed away earlier this year after a battle with cancer, wishing his fellow Starfield fans the best while exploring the vast open reaches of Bethesda's new RPG.

Bethesda's Tribute to Alex Hay from r/Starfield

Sadly, as the more recent post on the Starfield subreddit below chronicles, Hay posted earlier this year revealing that he likely wouldn't be around to see the Starfield launch in September. Hay wrote that he was battling lung cancer at age 35, and while he would have been able to play Starfield last year in November, the delay meant he likely wouldn't be able to experience the final game.

Remember Alex Hay from r/Starfield

At the time, lots of Starfield fans petitioned Bethesda to let Hay play an early build of the game, but nothing ever came of that. There were a lot of posts earlier this year on the Starfield subreddit about the matter though, enough that someone at Bethesda clearly took note of the situation.

"Just a reminder to remember our fellow explorer, Alex Hay, who cancer took before he could play this game. As we all prepare to dive into Starfield in these next few weeks, let’s think of Alex and name a character or ship after him," the description of the subreddit post above reads.

Players could well be exploring the outer reaches of Starfield in ships named after Hay, with one player noting that they planned to call their ship "The Hay-maker" after him. Another player points out the awareness color for lung cancer is pearl or white, and they plan to incorporate this color into their ship design in honor of Hay.

If you're also just starting out in Bethesda's huge RPG, you can read up on our extensive Starfield backgrounds guide for a look into some early choices.