András Neltz, a Budapest-based writer and editor who worked the morning shift at Kotaku from 2012-2016, died last month at the age of 31. Today, we mourn the loss of a cherished former colleague.
András joined Kotaku near the start of my run as editor-in-chief, as part of an expansion of editorial duties to then-Gawker Media’s Hungarian offices, which had primarily been used for tech work. Quietly and confidently — because that was always his way — András proved this was a terrific idea. He was there for readers each morning, writing posts about cool things in gaming, development timelines, and more while bridging the end of our night shift and the start of our day crew. Alongside his fellow Budapest-based contributor, Gergo Vas, he connected the efforts of our writers in Japan and China to those of us in the U.S. He cleaned up many a typo, and his English, not his first language, was often better than ours. (Yes, folks, our typos could have been worse!)
András was distinguished by his serenity, the quiet grace of his presence in our chatrooms, and the gentle, clever needling of his well-timed jokes. He told me many times that he didn’t like to draw attention to himself, but he described working at Kotaku and writing for our readers as a great joy. When a managerial change ended the Budapest editorial program in 2016, he wrote the sweetest of notes to our team. “I will never forget what you’ve done for me,” he said in that email. András, I will never forget what you did for us.
He loved games, and anyone wishing to honour him is welcome to make a donation in his name to charities that help kids play and learn to make games. We suggest Extra Life as one such option.
András Neltz was one of the sweetest, gentlest people I’ve encountered in my career. Readers can’t know what it was like to work with him. But I hope some may remember his work delighting them, and that you will join me in mourning his passing. Our condolences to his family and friends.
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