He relied on playing games, and at the age of 24, he already earned millions of dollars a year.
But 6 years after entering Tencent, he suddenly committed suicide by jumping off a building.
What is puzzling is that after his death, neither his family nor the company mentioned the reason for his jump.
Why did a teenager with such a bright future suddenly choose to commit suicide? What's the secret behind this?
The source of this article comes from the official media [Red Star News] [Shangguan News] and others (the link is attached at the end of the article). In order to improve the readability of the article, there may be polishing of the details, please read sensibly, for reference only!
There is no delay in learning the game
In the nineties of the last century, games gradually emerged, and many people began to indulge in them, and parents were quite resistant to their children playing games after discovering it, but Mao Xingyun's parents showed a rare open-minded attitude.
Instead of forcibly banning the child from gaming, they chose to believe and support him.
Unlike other children, Mao Xingyun's love for games really didn't affect learning.
On the contrary, this love has become the driving force that keeps him going.
Mao Xingyun in high school has become a "scholar" figure.
Not only did he excel in his studies, but he was also able to talk about the details of various games between classes, especially the "Legend of Sword and Fairy", which was all the rage at the time.
This balance of being able to study and have fun at the same time made many students both envious and admired.
In 2009, with excellent results, Mao Xingyun was admitted to the "China-Ukraine Aerospace Joint Training Class" of Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics.
However, even in the aerospace field, Mao Xingyun's love for games has not diminished in the slightest. He even started teaching himself graphics programming techniques like DirectX and OpenGL.
The teenager has made a difference
In 2012, as part of the exchange program, Mao Xingyun came to Ukraine to study.
During this period of study, Mao Xingyun, who was only 22 years old, completed his first book, "The Journey of Dreams: Windows Game Programming: Starting from Scratch".
This book not only shows Mao Xingyun's profound skills in the field of game development, but more importantly, this book has become an enlightening reading for many game developers.
Through this book, Mao Xingyun passed on his knowledge and experience to more people.
In 2013, with his love and dream for game development, Mao Xingyun returned to his alma mater to study for a master's degree.
In April 2014, Mao Xingyun, who was still a graduate student, received exciting news: he won the Microsoft Most Valuable Professional (MVP) award.
This award is self-evident and is Microsoft's recognition of the world's best technologists.
For Mao Xingyun, who is still a student, this is undoubtedly a huge encouragement and also makes his status in the industry to a higher level.
A game development boss with an annual salary of millions
So when he graduated, Mao Xingyun, who was only 24 years old, was immediately poached by the Internet giant Tencent, and his annual salary reached an enviable million.
At Tencent TiMi Studio, Mao Xingyun first worked as a game engine development engineer, and later was promoted to the head of the engine team.
This position has given him the opportunity to participate in many important projects, the most notable of which is the popular "Honor of Kings" that has taken the country by storm.
Mao Xingyun made an important contribution to the development of the game's graphics engine, which also made his talent recognized by more people.
However, Mao Xingyun was not satisfied with his work achievements.
In his spare time, he is active in major technical communities under the screen name "Qianmo".
On platforms such as Zhihu, CSDN, and Weibo, Mao Xingyun spares no effort to share his knowledge and experience in game development.
While his career is thriving, Mao Xingyun has always had a bigger dream: to build a Chinese version of "Unreal Engine" and develop a triple-A game with Chinese characteristics.
He hopes that one day, Chinese gamers will be able to play action games such as Journey to the West, or sandbox games with the theme of Shanghai Tang.
In 2021, Mao Xingyun's career seems to have ushered in a new peak. He led the development of a new game engine project, which was considered by industry insiders to be an important breakthrough for domestic triple-A games.
In September, he gave an impressive presentation at a game developer conference on the application of real-time ray tracing.
This speech showcased Mao Xingyun's insight into the frontier of game technology, and also let more people see the hope for the development of game technology in China.
It can be said that Mao Xingyun's future is bright.
However, just as his career was at its peak, his life took an unexpected turn.
The fall of genius
He began to see frequent medical appointments, and there were signs that he might be suffering from depression.
Despite this, Mao Xingyun continued to work and even began translating Real-Time Rendering 4th, an important technical book in the industry.
But it didn't take long for the outside world to spread the news that Mao Xingyun committed suicide by jumping off the building.
This bad news was like a bolt from the blue, and it shocked the entire gaming industry.
Many people are beginning to reflect: what kind of pressure can drive such a brilliant and promising young man to the end of the road?
After Mao Xingyun's death, his father made his son's suicide note public.
In the suicide note, Mao Xingyun expressed his dissatisfaction and exhaustion with the fierce competition and huge pressure of life in the game industry, and also called on the society to pay more attention to the mental health of young people.
Success shouldn't come at the expense of health.
Mao Xingyun's story makes us have to think: in this era of rapid development, are we ignoring our personal emotional needs and mental health?
Are the high-pressure work environment, fierce competition, and excessive pursuit of success overdrawing the physical and mental health of our generation of young people?
Mao Xingyun's story teaches us that even the best people can feel helpless under the weight of life.
It reminds us that while pursuing career success, we should also pay attention to our own mental health and the mental health of those around us.
However, Mao Xingyun's departure did not end his dream.
In honor of this genius in the game development world, some game developers have spontaneously organized an open-source project called the Nebula Project.
This project aims to continue Mao Xingyun's unfinished work, which is not only the best memorial to Mao Xingyun, but also reflects the cohesion of the game development community and the persistence of dreams.
May we draw strength from Mao Xingyun's experience and go further and more steadily on our own life path.
At the same time, we also hope that our society can provide more support and care for young people, so that everyone with dreams can chase their own stars and seas in a healthy and happy way.
Bibliography:
【Red Star News】Tencent's well-known game programmer Mao Xingyun died unexpectedly, insider: suspected depression was hospitalized before his death.2021-12-14
https://www.toutiao.com/article/7041476991584829966/?channel=&source=search_tab
【Strait Net】Tencent's well-known programmer Mao Xingyun's cause of death profile profile Insider: Suspected depression.2021-12-15
https://www.toutiao.com/article/7041761639963558413/?channel=&source=search_tab
Tencent confirmed the accidental death of well-known game programmer Mao Xingyun: "Very sorry and sad! ”2021-12-14
https://www.toutiao.com/article/7041512842868195870/?channel=&source=search_tab