Tom Clancy: author and Red Storm Entertainment co-founder passes away at age 66

Author and co-founder of game development studio Red Storm Entertainment, Tom Clancy, passed away today in a Baltimore hospital at age 66.

Clancy wrote espionage and military science novels and co-founded the game studio Red Storm Entertainment in 1996 before publisher Ubisoft Entertainment purchased it for an undisclosed sum.

"We are saddened to learn of Tom Clancy’s passing and our condolences go out to his family," Ubisoft said in a statement. "Tom Clancy was an extraordinary author with a gift for creating detailed, engrossing fictional stories that captivated audiences around the world.

"The teams at Ubisoft, especially at the Red Storm studio, are incredibly grateful to have collaborated with and learned from him, and we are humbled by the opportunity to carry on part of his legacy through our properties that bear his name."

Game franchises based on his intellectual properties include: Rainbow Six, Ghost Recon, Splinter Cell, EndWar, HAWX and the upcoming 2014 online shooter Tom Clancy's The Division.

The latest game to be released based on Clancy's properties was Splinter Cell: Blacklist.