Naughty Dog

Naughty Dog is a developer.

Naughty Dog Webpage, Facebook

Naughty Dog is an American development studio established in 1984 (originally as Jam Software), specializing in creating games for the PlayStation consoles. Since 2001, the studio has been owned by Sony Interactive Entertainment and is responsible for key brands in the company's publishing portfolio. Naughty Dog is headquartered in Santa Monica, California.

In the first decade of its activity, Naughty Dog was engaged in creating games mainly for Apple II computers and consoles existing at the time. Since 1996, the company has been inextricably linked to the PlayStation brand, creating exclusive titles for subsequent generations of these consoles. Initially, these were platformers aimed at a younger audience - Naughty Dog became famous as the creator of two cult series: Crash and Jak and Daxter. Later, the studio shifted towards the action-adventure genre. Naughty Dog's key brands became the Uncharted and The Last of Us series, which are among the most important and highest-rated games in the history of PlayStation consoles.

History of Naughty Dog

Prehistory

The origins of Naughty Dog date back to 1984, when two sixteen-year-old developers: Jason Rubin and Andy Gavin founded their own studio – Jam Software. Experimenting with Lisp and C++, in just one weekend they created their first game called Ski Crazed (or Ski Stud), which, after minor fixes, was then released by Baudville for Apple II computers. The studio's next title was the adventure game Dream Zone, released in 1988, which was later ported to Atari ST and Amiga. A year later, the studio released Keef the Thief, a game combining adventure and RPG elements, published worldwide by Electronic Arts. To emphasize the new era in the company's operations, on September 9, 1989, Rubin and Gavin changed its name to Naughty Dog, under which the studio is known to this day.

Crash Bandicoot and Jak & Daxter

Between 1991 and 1994, Naughty Dog prepared two more games - Rings of Power for the Sega Genesis console and Way of the Warrior for the 3DO console. The second of these games was extremely well-received by the then head of Universal Interactive Studios, Mark Cerny, who offered the developers a contract for three more games. This is how we got Crash one of the most important platformer series in history. Between 1996 and 1999, three main installments and one spin-off (Crash Team Racing) were released on PlayStation, each of which proved to be a significant commercial success. During work on the above-mentioned games, the Naughty Dog team has also grown significantly. Although the contract with Universal expired, the company retained the rights to the Crash franchise and transferred it to other developers, such as Traveller's Tales, Vicarious Visions, and Radical Entertainment. Naughty Dog focused on creating a completely new brand, intended for the next generation of Sony consoles.

In 2001, while working on the first game from the new Jak and Daxter platformer series, Naughty Dog was acquired by Sony Computer Entertainment. The series, a spiritual successor of Crash, once again proved to be a considerable commercial success and between 2001 and 2005 got four more installments (including one spin-off), available exclusively on PlayStation 2. In 2004, Gavin and Rubin appointed Evan Wells and Christophe Balestra as the new heads of Naughty Dog and left the studio they founded. In later years, both men created the internet company Flektor (taken over by Fox Interactive Media in 2007) and the Monkey Gods studio, which did not achieve any significant success. In the second decade of the 21st century, Andy Gavin also became known as a writer.

Uncharted and The Last of Us

Just before the launch of the next generation of PlayStation consoles, Naughty Dog began working on another new IP, moving away from classic platformers towards action-adventure games. The result was Uncharted: Drake's Fortune released in 2007, which sold over a million copies in just ten weeks and was recognized by many industry media as the best game of the year. The next entries in the series, released in 2009 and 2011, were just as successful - scoring over 90 on Metacritic and earning multiple industry awards for their cinematic flair and technical polish. In 2012, Naughty Dog took a break from the Uncharted series and, in collaboration with Mass Media, released an HD remaster of three Jak and Daxter games for PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Vita.

In 2013, Naughty Dog released a brand-new title, The Last of Us, an action-adventure game with survival horror elements set in a post-apocalyptic world. The game was as successful as the Uncharted series, earning rave reviews from both critics and players, along with four BAFTA awards. Straddling two generations of Sony consoles, the game received a remastered PlayStation 4 edition just a year later. That same year, The Last of Us: Left Behind launched, becoming one of the highest-rated DLCs in PlayStation Network history. Meanwhile, Corinne Yu joined Naughty Dog, bringing experience from 343 Industries, where she worked on Halo 4. In March 2014, Uncharted lead writer Amy Hennig left Naughty Dog, followed soon after by two of Uncharted 3’s main co-creators, Justin Richmond and Nate Wells.

In 2015, Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection launched on PlayStation 4, developed in collaboration with Bluepoint Games, featuring remastered versions of the first three entries in the series. A year later, Naughty Dog returned with the fourth full installment of its flagship series, which quickly became the best-selling game on PS4. At the same time, the Uncharted series became Naughty Dog’s first franchise (excluding remasters) to appear on two consecutive console generations. In 2017, Uncharted: The Lost Legacy came out, letting players finally play as Chloe Frazer instead of Nathan Drake.

Then, major changes began to take place in the studio's ranks. In March 2017, Christophe Balestra announced he was leaving the studio, followed by director Bruce Straley in September. In March 2018, former creative director Neil Druckmann became vice president of the studio, and in December 2020, he was promoted to president, a role he held alongside Evan Wells.

The Last of Us: Part II and the TLoU series

Meanwhile, in early December 2016, Naughty Dog announced the second installment of The Last of Us series. Over the following months and years, the developers kept fans hooked with updates and promotional materials that wowed players - mainly thanks to the game’s impressive graphics. On September 24, 2019, The Last of Us: Part II finally got its release date - though it would be delayed twice. The Last of Us 2 finally debuted on June 19, 2020.

The game launched to rave reviews from critics, but soon after hitting Metacritic, it was flooded with negative player reviews from those unhappy with the direction the developers took. Some of these negative reactions even escalated to threats against Laura Bailey, the actress behind one of the game’s characters. Despite the backlash, sales weren’t hurt - within just two days of release, the game had reached over four million players.

In March 2020, Kotaku’s Jason Schreier reported that working on The Last of Us: Part II was a grueling experience for the developers. Employees interviewed by Schreier spoke out about the rampant crunch culture and the long, grueling hours they were forced to work. Shortly after, former studio employee Jonathan Cooper explained that the crunch was largely due to many talented but inexperienced staff needing training, which forced the whole team to work long hours and caused further delays. He also noted that without Sony’s financial backing, Naughty Dog likely wouldn’t be as successful. To wrap up the topic of The Last of Us: Part II’s development, a total of 2,332 people worked on the game, most from fourteen different companies.

Following the release of The Last of Us: Part II, the original game was remade. The Last of Us: Part I launched on PlayStation 5 in September 2022, with its PC port - developed alongside Iron Galaxy Studios - following in March 2023. The console version was warmly received by critics, earning an average score of 88/100 on Metacritic. The PC edition didn’t do as well, scoring just 59/100 on Metacritic and receiving only "mixed" reviews on Steam. Most complaints focused on technical issues, prompting the developers to quickly start releasing patches.

The Last of Us also got a TV adaptation from HBO. The series was written by Neil Druckmann and Craig Mazin, with Pedro Pascal as Joel and Bella Ramsey as Ellie. The series premiered in January 2023 and was a huge success, both critically and commercially - its first episode drew 4.7 million viewers, and two months later the audience had nearly hit 40 million.

In July 2023, it was announced that Evan Wells, president of Naughty Dog for 19 years, would step down by the end of the year. With his departure, there was to be some reshuffle in the band's ranks. Neil Druckmann was set to become chief creative officer, Alison Mori would take over as manager and head of operations, Arne Meyer as head of culture and communications, Christian Gyrling as head of technology, Anthony Newman as head of production and design, and Erick Pangilinan and Jeremy Yates as co-heads of the art departments.

The troubled "The Last of Us Online" and the successful remaster of TLoU2

Meanwhile, Naughty Dog was developing a multiplayer game set in The Last of Us universe, which evolved from a scrapped online mode of the series’ second installment. Unfortunately, things didn’t go as planned - work on this mysterious project ended up taking far longer than expected.

To make matters worse, unofficial reports in May 2023 suggested the team had been downsized, with many developers reassigned to other projects. Additionally, in early October 2023, rumors emerged that at least 25 developers on the project had been let go - reportedly without any severance pay. Trouble regarding The Last of Us multiplayer became even clearer when Naughty Dog officially announced that Anders Howard, the lead monetization designer, had left the studio.

At the end of October 2023, unofficial reports suggested that the multiplayer version of The Last of Us had been canceled. The information came from David Jaffe, a former Sony Interactive Entertainment employee who played a key role in creating the God of War series, among others. Although Vinit Agarwal, the project lead, denied the reports in early November, Naughty Dog officially confirmed in mid-December that the online version of The Last of Us had indeed been canceled. Officially, the cancellation was attributed to the project’s excessive scale and the long-term support it would have required, which could have strained the studio. Naughty Dog decided to continue focusing on single-player games, as it had always done. At the same time, the team revealed they’re working on "more than one" new game of this kind.

Meanwhile, in November, Christian Gyrling, Naughty Dog’s head of technology, left the studio. He was replaced by Travis McIntosh.

Naughty Dog’s next release was The Last of Us: Part II Remastered, a PlayStation 5 remaster of the second The Last of Us. The game launched in January 2024 to critical acclaim, earning an average score of 90/100 from industry media and 8.5/10 from players on Metacritic. The project was also a financial success, selling significantly better than the remaster of the first game. In June, unofficial reports suggested that the PC version had been finished for several months, but the publisher delayed its release until the premiere of the second season of The Last of Us.

In August 2024, Jason Schreier shared more behind-the-scenes details about the multiplayer version of The Last of Us. On the Friends Per Second podcast, he said the mysterious project took around four years to develop, with "hundreds of people" involved. The journalist described the project as "expensive", and its cancellation reportedly led to "heads rolling at Sony".

A look into the future

In May 2024, an unusual moment arose when Sony released an interview with Neil Druckmann, in which he reportedly said that Naughty Dog’s next project "could redefine the mainstream perception of gaming". However, the developer quickly clarified his statement, saying he had merely expressed that he was "very excited to see the reaction" to the studio’s upcoming game. Soon after, the Japanese company apologized to Druckmann for the confusion and removed the interview. In June, Druckmann shared some details about Naughty Dog’s future plans and emphasized that his team doesn’t intend to be a "The Last of Us studio forever".