Chen describes correspondence with a war veteran amputee who had sustained a brain injury. He told Thagamecompany that playing Journey helped him to stay strong, stay positive and to be with his family. Some Journey players who had recently lost a parent have been playing the game to work through their grief, projecting their thoughts onto the other player as a kind of parent figure. “By walking through the whole game with this character, by walking into the light, they felt they’ve managed to say goodbye to their parents,” says Chen. “Stories like that – there are so many of them. I just totally didn’t see the game having that much power, to make other peoples’ lives better. It was eye opening to me.” (via Why Thatgamecompany nearly fell apart after releasing Journey – and what’s next for the studio | Features | Edge Online)