Cousin shared news on twitter about the former director of policy and enforcement at XBL. Thoughts with those who know him and his family.

=(

Yikes, that seems sudden. It seems like just yesterday he was having a heated E3 podcast debate with Jonathan Blow about indie games on Microsoft services.

Just heard about this. I really hope it turns out ok.

Oh man, terrible news. I knew him mostly from his appearances on Major Nelson Radio, he seemed like a good person to have in charge of a division. Hope he pulls through :(

I really hope he recovers, and thoughts to the family going through this, nobody should have to.

Sad to hear, best wishes to his family

It doesn't say what happened. I hope he will pull through. I used to listen to Major Nelson's Podcast so I know the guy from there.

Oh no that's terrible.

Tragic news. Here's hoping he beats the odds, he always seemed like a good guy. Thoughts with his family, that has to be one of the hardest things to endure.

Best wishes to Stepto and his family. He's always been super interesting to listen to and seems like a great guy,

Sad to hear about this. He was always the "Sweet" bald guy to E's "sour" bald guy on the Major Nelson podcast.

Jesus, that's awful. Hope he pulls through.

Best wishes to him and his family and friends.

I believe it was a car accident but I'm not completely positive.

Either way, this is fucking awful.

Holy shit, Stepto. I haven't heard that name in years.

Best wishes to him and his family.

@bisonhero: that podcast was why I fell in love with Giant Bomb. I ran into Stepto a few times at PAX events and he was always kind and gracious. Pulling for him and keeping his family and friends in my thoughts.

Oh no! I really hope he pulls through. He seemed like a good dude.

That sucks. I don't know the guy much, outside of his few bombcast appearances, but I wouldn't wish that on anyone. Hopefully the low expectations will be met and he'll make it through alright.

I'm man enough to admit that this tweet from E made me tear up.

Damn. Real sorry to hear that. Thoughts go out to his friends and family. I've recently had to deal with the sudden lose of a close family member. It's rough.

Uuuugh.

That's really fucking sad.... Don't really know much about him, but it still makes my heart ache (as corny as that sounds). Hope everything turns out alright in the end

Damn, that's terrible. He seemed like a lively presence from the bombcast, and I'm sure he was a great guy. Was looking at his website after I saw Jeff tweet about him and it seems like he's been through some hardships over the past few months as well. Thoughts go out to his friends and family.

hope he pulls through! he always has valuable thoughts on policy, and provides a real in-the-trenches perspective that can be difficult to get elsewhere.

Although I'm sure he was well-compensated working for MS, I'd guess beyond that his job is a pretty thankless one. He had to have been the target of some pretty incredible hate from people that got banned on XBL, and the job itself (trying to make a complete cesspool of humanity a better place) is a pretty impossible one. Have to have some pretty big respect for that guy for taking on that task.

I don't know if I should say "I hope he recovers," since I guess we may be beyond that point now. But whatever happens, peace to him, his family, and friends.

I had my cousin pass away last year, he was in a coma for about 2 weeks. Was quite young too only in his early 30's, just went into a coma caused by a stroke. The stroke was caused by a panic attack! Seemed like such an odd set of circumstances that caused him to die. Worst part was the coma, we knew he wasn't going to recover and even if he did he would not be able to move.

That is terrible news. I hope he is able to recover.

That's awful, my thoughts go out to his friends and family. Hopefully he's able to come around.

That sucks, he always seemed like a stand up person, and enjoyed when he was on GB/Tested. I hope he pulls through, I feel for his family.

Hope he pulls through. Thoughts to friends and family.

My thoughts are with his family and friends, hopefully he recovers.

I wish him and his family all the best. That's rough.

Uhg, that stinks, he always came across as someone who cared about the job he was doing and it was always nice seeing him pop up in a video or news on some site.

I don't know much about comas, I hope if there is a possibility he pulls through it.

Whoa... That's really terrible news.

bummer :(

Always enjoyed him, seemed like a good dude who cared about his work.

Last year I had an aunt just collapse with a brain haemorrhage out of nowhere, go into a coma and then die within a few days. No previous indication that anything was wrong. It's damn scary stuff to even think about. I remember researching up about it afterwords, just about comas in general, and was always given a little hope when reading the ones that made miraculous recoveries even after the worst prognostications. Here's hoping Stepto will be one of the lucky ones.

Had the honor of running into Stephen at both of the past PAX Primes I've attended. Without knowing anything about me, we struck up an easy chat that ran on for what felt like way longer than was probably convenient for someone in his role. The guy made everybody around him feel like anyone could be his best friend. Genuine warmth and interest in other people. No ego or celebrity.

Keeping the Toulouse family in my thoughts.

E and Major Nelson both tweeted a link to a page that has an update on Stepto.

It appears that the coma was brought on by a "severe infection". Treatment for the infection has started, and Stepto has started to respond to voices and is following commands. However, he remains in critical condition. While the prognosis seems to have improved, the best case scenario at this point is still prolonged hospitalization.

@toastburner_b: Really glad he seems to be improving. Hopefully it keeps going that way.

This is really terrible, but very glad to hear that there's even a little improvement.

of course John Drake and his Diet Coke costume would be in that fundraiser's page.

I was just listening to the Day 0 E3 2011 Bombcast on my bike ride earlier today, so seeing this news shortly after that is a bit odd.

I'm glad he's improving, though. I hope he continues to do so <3

:( He always seemed like an upright fella. Best wishes hope he gets better.

Stepto's a cool dude, I wish him nothing but the best.

Awful, awful news :( The best of wishes to him and his family.

Some outstanding news being shared by Stepto's friends and family: he's awake, breathing on his own, and talking. Sounds like recovery is going to be an effort, but this is an amazing turnaround from what we knew a few days ago. If you saw the general mood before the news broke with tweets from e, Ben Kuchera, and others, this was far from the expected outcome.

Here's a link to the update and the crowdfunding effort to help with bills and family travel expenses. If you've ever had a sudden and serious illness, or been away from a family member who has, or had sudden and serious illness while being far away from family, you know the financial and emotional toll on everyone involved. The latest Stepto update (6/13/15) (Click on the Updates tab for the latest)

That's great news! Hope he makes a speedy and full recovery.

Any chance of updating the title of the thread to reflect the better prognosis? Every time I see it I get bummed out.

Wishing him a full and speedy recovery.