Tag: Naughty Dog
News Naughty Dog's Next Game Will Reportedly Put More of a Focus on 'Player Freedom'
Spoiled for choice
In huge news for fans tired of its cinematic schtick, developer Naughty Dog's next game will reportedly feature "a lot of player freedom". That's according to a tantalising tidbit from MinnMax founder Ben Hanson and "somebody very in the know, who worked on the game". Transcribed by VGC, Hanson relayed word of one of the several...
Contrary to common opinion
There’s a common sentiment among PlayStation enthusiasts that Bungie waded into Naughty Dog’s offices, saw a finished version of The Last of Us 2’s long anticipated live service multiplayer game, and immediately started flipping over tables and ordered the acclaimed developer to cancel the whole thing. The reality...
News Naughty Dog Won't Be 'The Last of Us Studio Forever', Says Neil Druckmann
Multiple single player games being made
Naughty Dog studio head Neil Druckmann has reassured fans it won't be working on The Last of Us forever, sharing in a new interview with the LA Times the developer has "multiple single player projects" in production. He added: "I promise you, we will not be 'The Last of Us' studio forever." In its forty-year...
News Sony Removes Naughty Dog Boss Interview Following Complete Misquotes
"We apologize to Neil for misrepresenting his words"
Well, this Neil Druckmann saga just doesn't stop giving, does it? In case you missed out on the origin point of this whole thing, Sony featured an interview with the Naughty Dog boss on its official website last week. It contained a bunch of quotes that had people questioning the developer's tone,...
News Naughty Dog Boss Neil Druckmann Doesn't Want to Make Games Forever
"I’ve started thinking about how many more of these games do I have in me"
Naughty Dog president Neil Druckmann doesn't think he will be in the business of making video games forever, at least not at the scale we would expect from the storied creative. He is best known for his work on both Uncharted and The Last of Us; in fact, it was the...
Random Tipsy The Last of Us HBO Star Pedro Pascal Secures SAG Award
"I'm a little drunk!"
Pedro Pascal might have had one too many Dark 'n' Stormy's before 2024's SAG awards, where the actor secured the award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series for his role as Joel Miller in the HBO adaptation of The Last of Us. Somewhat sloshed, the Joel actor took to the stage, declaring: "This is wrong...
News Sounds Like Naughty Dog's Next Game Won't Be The Last of Us 3
Or possibly the one after that
Naughty Dog recently released Grounded II: Making The Last of Us Part II, a two-hour documentary delving into the creation of the mammoth sequel. Full of in-progress footage and stories from development, It's well worth watching, and you can do so for free on YouTube. In its closing moments, Neil Druckmann says he has...
News Stare Wistfully at The Last of Us Online PS5 Multiplayer Menu Screen
And dream of what could have been
We're still reeling from the cancellation of The Last of Us Online, Naughty Dog's ambitious, mysterious multiplayer effort, with news breaking ahead of the weekend that ended months of speculation. Now, an image a notorious leakster just had lying around might serve as either a salve, or to exacerbate the situation...
News The Last of Us' Cancelled PS5 Multiplayer Was 'More Fun' Than Any Other Online Game
The highlight of one dev's career
Naughty Dog has cancelled its ambitious PS5-bound online multiplayer adaptation of The Last of Us, implying it had to choose between dedicating itself to the live service title or continuing to make single player games. Ultimately, it opted for the latter, and claims it now has multiple new projects in the works...
News Naughty Dog Has 'More Than One' Ambitious PS5 Single Player Game on the Way
"We cannot wait to share more"
Alongside confirmation that it’s cancelled its hotly anticipated The Last of Us Multiplayer project, Naughty Dog sought to reassure fans by confirming it has “more than one” ambitious single player titles in the works. The studio admitted that, had it followed through its live service plans, it would have had to...
News The Last of Us 2 PS5 Remaster Announced, Has a Brand New Survival Mode, $10 Upgrade Path
Naughty
Update 2: Off the back of the entire thing leaking, Sony has officially announced The Last of Us Part II Remastered. As previously reported, it launches on the 19th January, and will feature graphical improvements, a brand new, roguelike survival mode, and the ability to explore some cut content. But perhaps the most important piece of...
News Naughty Dog's Neil Druckmann to Receive NYVGCC Legend Award
Past recipents include Hideo Kojima, Phil Spencer, Reggie Fils-Aimé
Naughty Dog co-president and lead creative Neil Druckmann is being honoured with a prestigious Andrew Yoon Legend Award, which will be presented by the New York Video Game Critics Circle at the 13th annual New York Game Awards, airing on 23rd January, 2024. The award, which...
News The Last of Us Gets the Final Fantasy Treatment with Gorgeous Yoshitako Amano Print
Finally
In a beautiful marriage between two seminal series, legendary Final Fantasy artist and character designer Yoshitaka Amano, in partnership with Naughty Dog, has turned his hand to The Last of Us, blessing us with the resultant print. Created using pencils and watercolours, mediums with which Amano is intimately acquainted, the print depicts...
News Naughty Dog Head of Technology Leaving Kennel After 17-Year Career
One of the pack
Naughty Dog has announced that head of technology Christian Gyrling is leaving the Kennel after an impressive 17-year career. Gyrling began work at the studio as a programmer on Uncharted: Drake's Fortune, eventually serving as studio vice president in 2020 and being appointed head of technology earlier this year. The studio,...
News The Last of Us Multiplayer's Microtransactions Man Has Left Naughty Dog
Another one gone
Naughty Dog’s troubled, long-in-development multiplayer adaptation of The Last of Us has lost one of its most important employees: the man tasked with making money. Anders Howard was recruited by the award-winning studio last November, as the release’s Principal Monetisation Designer. In other words, he was tasked with creating...
News Now Naughty Dog Is Reportedly Downsizing, Cutting Multiple Contract Jobs
Core team apparently unaffected
Unfortunately, it looks like the recent tidal wave of redundancies isn't done sweeping through the games industry. In a new report from Kotaku, it appears Naughty Dog is laying off dozens of contractors. Sources "familiar with the situation" have told Kotaku that Naughty Dog informed those affected of the job cuts...
News The Last of Us' Neil Druckmann Confirms He's Writing, Directing New PS5 Game
And also running the company
While it was never really in doubt, Neil Druckmann has confirmed he’s writing and directing an unannounced PS5 game. Shuffles within Naughty Dog’s executive ranks recently saw The Last of Us creator promoted to co-studio head, but it looks like he’s going to retain a highly creative role within the company, as he...
News Uncharted 2 Director Notes Familiarity of New Mission: Impossible Flick's Train Sequence
Cruise suspected of being real-life Drake
Uncharted 2: Among Thieves director Bruce Straley, ever the firebrand, sees some striking similarities between a train sequence in Tom Cruise's latest attempt to go out in a blaze of cinematic glory (Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning) and that
News Naughty Dog Co-President Evan Wells Announces His Retirement
Will leave the studio at the end of the year
Naughty Dog co-president Evan Wells has announced he will be retiring from the developer after 25 years. Confirmed in a statement, he leaves Neil Druckmann as the sole president of the company along with the Studio Leadership Team, who Wells believes will "steer the studio into a successful future". He'll...
News No New Game Announcements to Celebrate The Last of Us' Tenth Anniversary
But there's more The Last of Us to come
There’ll be no new game announcements to mark the tenth anniversary of The Last of Us’ release. Naughty Dog prefaced a slew of tangential announcements on Twitter today by confirming that it’ll only be honouring the “series’ impact” and will “not be making any game development updates”. This...
Rumour Naughty Dog's Troubled The Last of Us Multiplayer PS5 Project Was Sniped by Bungie
Destiny dev "raised questions"
As noted in our previous article on the supposed state of The Last of Us' multiplayer game, it's being reported that Destiny developer Bungie actually had a hand in the project's reassessment. This is according to a Bloomberg articl
News Flagship First-Party Naughty Dog Will Develop for PS5 and PC Moving Forwards
One of these things is not like the other
The Last of Us: Part I is out on PC today, and it's drawing quite a bit of criticism for its less-than-stellar technical performance, a state of affairs which developer
News The Last of Us' Naughty Dog Already Working on Next PS5 Exclusive
"We picked the thing we're most excited about"
The next Naughty Dog game has been selected and is in development now. Vice president Neil Druckmann, appearing on a Kinda Funny Spoilercast, confirmed the first-party developer has already decided what its next PS5 project is going to be – and while he couldn’t reveal what it is, he explained that...
News Naughty Dog May Move On from The Last of Us Like It Did with Uncharted
Neil Druckmann makes no promises about a Part 3
In the last year or two, there has been a lot of speculation and rumours surrounding a supposed The Last of Us: Part III. Naughty Dog is currently working on its big, standalone, multiplayer game set within the same universe, but a full-on third entry to the main story is apparently not set in stone at...
News Naughty Dog Is Against Announcing Its Secret Project Too Soon
The Last of Us Multiplayer comes first
Naughty Dog currently has two projects in development that we know of. There's the The Last of Us Multiplayer, which we'll learn more about this year, and there's something else beyond that — presumably a new property, or a new The Last of Us. And while the wait for any kind of concrete information on the...
News Naughty Dog Can't Wait to Show New PS5 Projects
Druckmann clarifies writers' room comments
Update: After some comments by Naughty Dog co-president Neil Druckmann were misconstrued, The Last of Us director has confirmed that he’s established a writers’ room to allow for more collaboration on upcoming PS5 games. A New Yorker article had previously said that the Santa Monica studio’s future...
News PC Versions of Future Naughty Dog Games Always a Possibility
PS5 its "primary platform", though
The Uncharted series makes its debut on PC today with the port of the Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves Collection, but it sounds like the remastered collection is only the beginning for Naughty Dog titles on the personal computer. While the PS5 remains the studio's "primary platform", it will now always consider a PC...
News The Last of Us: Part I References The Office's Scranton Branch in Suitably Apocalyptic Fashion
Bears. Beats... Savage Starlight.
It looks like the folks over at Naughty Dog are big fans of the hit sitcom The Office, as the titular office itself seems to have been recreated specifically in The Last of Us: Part I. TikTok user rxelei uploaded the video initially, which was shared by the
News Fans Think They've Found Naughty Dog's New IP in The Last of Us
Fantasy concept art uncovered
We know that Naughty Dog co-president Neil Druckmann is working on a new PS5 project, and some fans think they’ve found concept art in The Last of Us’ remake. Screenshots shared on social media show a selection of fantasy-style images attached to a pinboard, including a unicorn and a lady with her mid-riff exposed...
Poll Did You Buy The Last of Us: Part I?
Us or them
One of Sony's heaviest hitters of 2022 is here — and it's a remake of what many consider to be one of the greatest PlayStation titles of all time. However, Sony's decision to sell The Last of Us: Part I at full price has has already resulted in a tidal wave of criticism. As we wrote in our review, this is still a phenomenal video game...
"Leaks suck"
Just WTF is going on with The Last of Us: Part I on PS5? Gameplay footage from the Naughty Dog remake leaked earlier today, raising significant questions about the comments the developer has made about the game. From what we’ve seen so far, the action looks almost identical to the original PS3 release – it certainly doesn’t look...
News Naughty Dog Writer, Animator Josh Scherr Departs After 21 Years
Worked on Jak & Daxter, Uncharted, and The Last of Us
Josh Scherr, a bit of a Naughty Dog legend, has left the developer after a 21 year run which saw him ship games like Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End and The Last of Us 2. In total, the veteran contributed to a total of ten games, including Jak & Daxter: The Precursor Legacy and Uncharted 3:...
News No Crunch on The Last of Us PS5, Says Environment Artist
Hot takes incoming
We suppose the gags will write themselves with this headline, but restrain yourself before you get reductive in the comments and belittle a bunch of hard work. Naughty Dog, notorious for its crunch culture, appears not to have overworked on The Last of Us: Part I. The studio – which is renowned for its obsessive attention to...
News Naughty Dog's Neil Druckmann Working on New PS5 Project
Too early to announce more
Neil Druckmann gave an update on Naughty Dog during Summer Game Fest, which included the announcement of The Last of Us: Part I, a new image from HBO’s The Last of Us adaptation, and a br
News Unannounced Remake Project Added to Naughty Dog Employee's Resume
Worst kept secret in the world
When you’re a studio as gigantic as Naughty Dog, something’s going to slip. Case in point: the online resume of QA tester Corey Hong references an “unannounced remake project”. Of course, we know exactly what that game is: The Last of Us. Despite being less than 10 years old, it’s been known for some time now...
News The Last of Us Dev Naughty Dog Hiring for Three PS5, PS4 Games
Dogged
The Last of Us maker Naughty Dog is never not hiring [That’s a double negative, Sammy – Ed], and it seems like it has three projects in production right now. Co-president Neil Druckmann teased the tidbit on Twitter, reposting a recruitment message from the developer. He used a trio of emojis to cryptically refer to the three separate...
News Naughty Dog Dying to Share Its Multiple Game Projects in Production for PS5, PS4
Good times ahead
During its CES 2022 keynote overnight, Naughty Dog co-president Neil Druckmann featured to talk a little bit about its collaboration with Sony Pictures and PlayStation Productions on the Uncharted movie. As you’d expect, it was largely a puff piece, with the executive praising the filmmakers and also expressing enthusiasm for the...
News Naughty Dog Shares the Games That Inspired It in 2021
Deathloop! Returnal! It Takes Two!
It can be easy to forget that the people who make games also enjoy playing them – well, when they’re not bunkered down with bugs in their own projects, anyway. As such, this blog post from Naughty Dog makes for a refreshing read, as it shares some of its favourite games from the past year. We should caveat that...
News Naughty Dog's Neil Druckmann to Present at The Game Awards
Guerrilla’s Mathijs de Jonge also excited
There may be interest for PlayStation fans watching The Game Awards 2021 this evening, as Neil Druckmann will present one of the awards. The Last of Us 2 obviously won last year’s gong during lockdown, so it’s possible Geoff Keighley wanted the Naughty Dog vice president to be there in person this...
News The Last of Us Fans Hoping for an Update on Factions Today
No word yet
It’s officially 26th September, which is better known as The Last of Us Day for fans of Naughty Dog’s horror franchise. Many had pinned hopes on the developer sharing new information on The Last of Us: Part II’s long-lost multiplayer mode – especially after the team teased all-new content earlier in the week – but a PS Blog...
News Naughty Dog Teases 'All-New Content' for The Last of Us Day 2021
Here we go again
The Last of Us Day, Naughty Dog's annual celebration of its post-apocalyptic property, is happening this weekend, on Sunday the 26th September — and you know what that means. Is it finally time for the series' highly anticipated multiplayer project to be revealed? Well, while we would advise against getting your hopes up — we've...
News Naughty Dog Borrowed InFAMOUS: Second Son Assets to Help Build The Last of Us 2
Sucker Punch to the rescue
We've heard it before, but a huge advantage of being part of PlayStation Studios seems to be shared technology and experience between developers. That said, it's very rare we hear of any specific examples. In a recent interview with Game Informer, Naughty Dog provides one such anecdote, explaining how it called upon a...
News Don't Worry, Naughty Dog Will Continue Making Single Player, Story-Focused Games
"Single-player experiences are near and dear to us"
Naughty Dog is currently beavering away at a standalone multiplayer game set within The Last of Us' universe. It's expected to be an expanded take on Factions, but details are few and far between. Still, the team doubling down on a purely multiplayer experience is something new for the developer,...
News Naughty Dog's Multiplayer Game Described as Cinematic Experience Between Players
And yes, it's a standalone release
Just what the hell is Naughty Dog cooking? For the longest time, we thought The Last of Us: Part II’s standalone multiplayer mode would be a bigger budget version of the SOCOM-style competitive shooter it shipped with the original game, and we imagined we’d be playing it by now. But it’s been well over a year...
News Hidden The Last of Us 2 Multiplayer Assets Hint at Mysterious Mode
Is that a Battle Royale map?
Naughty Dog insinuated, prior to the release of The Last of Us: Part II, that its multiplayer mode had evolved into something much bigger. We know, from recruitment drives, that it continues to work on the standalone online component,
News Naughty Dog Seeking to Bring Studio's Trademark Ambition and Quality to Multiplayer Project
The hype is real
In a number of multiplayer focused job listings, Naughty Dog has expressed its goal to “bring the same level of ambition and quality of our signature, story-driven games” to its new online experience. It’s almost certain the team is referring to its spin-off, standalone The Last of Us multiplayer game, which was announced over...
News The Last of Us 2 PS5 Patch Out Now, Adds 60FPS Option
"The first step," says Naughty Dog
And just like that, Naughty Dog has dropped a new update for The Last of Us: Part II that enhances the game on PlayStation 5. Patch 1.08 provides the option of playing at 60 frames-per-second, much like what we got with fellow PS4 exclusives God of War and Ghost of Tsushima. The resolution will be the same as it is...
News Naughty Dog Recruiting Economy Designer for The Last of Us 2's Multiplayer Mode
To give players "rewards to strive for"
We know work is ongoing on The Last of Us: Part II’s long-anticipated multiplayer spin-off: Naughty Dog boss Neil Druckmann more or less admitted as much on Twitter last week, pleading for patience from fans. Still, while it’s unclear how close the Factions follow-up is to releasing, we do know that the...
News Naughty Dog Urges Fans to Remain Patient, Has 'Several Cool Things' on the Way
Factions, when?
It’s nearing a year since The Last of Us: Part II released and subsequently secured virtually every award available, and so some fans are pondering what’s next for Naughty Dog. We know that the team is working on a fully-fledged multiplayer game set within the series’ post-apocalyptic universe, but many had anticipated seeing...
News No, Naughty Dog Artist's Work Is Not Hinting at a New Fantasy Game
Down boy
What's next for Naughty Dog? Well, we know that a multiplayer expansion for The Last of Us: Part II is in the works, but beyond that, the future of Sony's top-tier developer is largely unknown. Earlier this week, however, various websites stumbled upon several pieces of concept art from Hyoung Nam, one of the studio's senior artists. The...
