Game Novelist and Writer William C. Dietz of Halo and Star Wars Fame Has Passed Away

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Prolific Gaming Novelist William C. Dietz Has Passed Away

Published Mar 16, 2026, 4:18 PM EDT

Eric Warner is a Journalist and Multimedia Producer based in New England with over seven years of experience producing stories for multiple print, online, radio, and video publications.

Eric has been a gaming fan ever since getting an original Xbox for Christmas in the early 2000's. From then on, he has become enthralled in the gaming world, spending thousands of hours in Halo multiplayer matches, climbing dozens of towers across the Assassin's Creed games, and 100% perfecting every single Horizon game to date.

When not writing for DualShockers Eric can typically be found playing games on his PS5, PC, and Xbox or reading sci-fi, horror, and fantasy books/comics.

On Sunday, March 15th, New York Times bestselling author and U.S. Navy and Marine Corps veteran William C. Dietz sadly passed away at the age of 80.

While Dietz was famous for writing dozens of his own original sci-fi novels, he's remembered by thousands of people across the globe for his prolific work writing tie-in novels based on video games, as well as writing scripts for a few video games.

Dietz's passing comes just eight months before one of his most famous novels, Halo: The Flood, was scheduled to be republished and updated in the upcoming Halo: The Master Chief Omnibus, collecting The Flood as well as Eric Nylund's Halo: The Fall of Reach and Halo: First Strike.

However, Dietz's video game career went far beyond just the Halo franchise and while he has passed on, his writing and legacy will live on in the thousands of fans who loved his work, with his family writing on Facebook, "As we mourn his passing, we will continue to hear his voice in the books he wrote and the lives of those touched through his writing and as a devoted family man."

The Gaming Career of William C. Dietz

Dietz's video game writing career began all the way back in the late 1990s when the author began writing tie-in novels to the Star Wars: Dark Forces series, beginning with 1997's Star Wars: Dark Forces Soldier for the Empire.

Dietz went on to write two more Star Wars novels following the adventures of Stormtrooper turned Rebel turned Jedi Knight Kyle Katarn with 1998's Rebel Agent and Jedi Knight, though these Star Wars stories, and the entire Dark Forces series in general, have since been classified as non-canon.

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After expanding the galaxy far, far away, Dietz went on to expand a similar sci-fi galaxy with 2003's Halo: The Flood, a novelization of Halo: Combat Evolved and the second Halo novel ever written.

As we mourn [William C. Dietz's] passing, we will continue to hear his voice in the books he wrote and the lives of those touched through his writing and as a devoted family man.

While The Flood was primarily a retread of CE in book form, it expanded and influenced the Halo franchise in many ways, including:

Being the first Halo story partially written from the Covenant's perspective with the Grunt Yayap and the Spec Ops Elite Zuka 'Zamamee.
Being the first story to feature UNSC Marine Marvin Mobuto, who is getting his own horror spinoff book, Halo: Parasite's Wake, in September, depicting his journey on Alpha Halo.
Being the first story to follow the crew of the UNSC Pillar of Autumn's struggle to survive on Alpha Halo without Master Chief, which laid the groundwork for the 2018 arcade game, Halo: Fireteam Raven.

Following his work with Halo, Dietz went on to write tie-in books for numerous gaming franchises, such as Hitman: Enemy Within, Starcraft II: Heaven's Devils, and Mass Effect: Deception.

Aside from Halo, Dietz's major gaming contributions can be seen with the PlayStation exclusive series Resistance, with Dietz writing the novels, Resistance: The Gathering Storm and Resistance: A Hole in the Sky, and co-writing Resistance: Burning Skies for the PlayStation Vita.

Before his passing, Dietz noted disappointment with the exponential decrease in people reading books in the 21st century but expressed contentment with his writing career, writing on his website, "I have no complaints. Life gave me lots of opportunities, and I took full advantage of most of them. So, when they beam me up, I won't complain. Thanks for reading my stuff."