Naughty Dog, LLC is an American game developer based in Santa Monica, California, originally founded in 1984 as JAM Software. It was rebranded under its current name in 1989, and was acquired by Sony Interactive Entertainment in 2001. Since 2005, Naughty Dog is part of PlayStation Studios.
The studio gained recognition with the development of the Crash Bandicoot series, funded by Vivendi Games and published by Sony; the franchise under Naughty Dog's tenure ran for four titles between 1996 and 2000. Afterwards, Naughty Dog, now a first-party studio, developed the Jak and Daxter series for the PlayStation 2, developing four titles.
During the PlayStation 3 era, Naughty Dog created the Uncharted franchise, which became a critical and commercial success as one of Sony's flagship titles; the studio eventually developed four titles and a standalone expansion pack. In 2013 Naughty Dog released The Last of Us, which received further acclaim and high sales. Throughout the PlayStation 4 era, the studio focused on sequels to its latest two franchises.
Naughty Dog has been praised for its quality titles and production values, and has been increasingly acclaimed for the quality of the writing, characterization and vocal performances within its games since the late 2000s. The success of Uncharted and The Last of Us turned the studio into one of the gaming industry's most revered development companies, with over 120 million copies sold between their Sony-published franchises[3]. Conversely, the studio was also accused of enforcing a crunch culture within its teams, and in 2020 was a subject of controversy due to creative and anrrative decisions regarding The Last of Us Part II.
History[]
1984 - 1993: Early years as JAM Software[]
Naughty Dog's first logo as JAM Software
Naughty Dog was founded in 1984 as JAM Software, by Jason Rubin, Andy Gavin and Mike Goyet. Rubin and Gavin were childhood friends who first met at a weekend Hebrew school in Virginia; the two boys shared a mutual interest in computing and video games, which grew to discussions on computer programming and game development. Gavin was proficient in programming and code writing, while Rubin was said to possess an "artistic inclination", which the two boys noticed complimented the other's strengths. Goyet, a friend of the two, was brought in to establish the young game company; Gavin and Rubin would then buy Goyet's share of the company (worth $100 at the time) when the latter became disinterested in game development, and redefined JAM as "Jason and Andy's Magic".[4][5]
1994 - 1999: Crash Bandicoot, early recognition[]
2001 - 2006: Acquisition by Sony, Jack and Daxter[]
In January 2001, Sony Computer Entertainment America announced its acquisition of Naughty Dog for an undisclosed sum. Gavin and Rubin retained their positions as studio heads following the acquisition.[6]
2007 - 2011: Uncharted, move to realistic and cinematic videogames[]
2013 - 2017: The Last of Us, concluding Uncharted[]
2017 - 2021: The Last of Us Part II, surrounding controversies[]
Druckmann was promoted to co-president on December 4, 2020; Alison Mori and Christian Gyrling were named as vice presidents.[7]
2021 - current: Franchise expansions and multiplayer woes[]
By July 2023, Naughty Dog increased to over 400 employees. In July 2023, Wells announced that he would step down from his position as co-president and retire by the end of 2023, after 25 years at Naughty Dog; according to Wells, discussions within the team about Wells's retirement began in 2022.[8] With Wells's departure, Druckmann was appointed Head of Creative, Alison Mori was promoted to both studio manager and Head of Operations, Meyer was appointed Head of Culture and Communications, Christian Gyrling was appointed Head of Technology, long-time artists Erick Pangilinan and Jeremy Yates were promoted to Co-Heads of Art Department, and Anthony Newman was promoted to Head of Production and Design.[9]
In October 2023, Kotaku reported that Naughty Dog suffered from layoffs, with at least 25 contractors affected by the cuts. Kotaku further reported that full-time employees were instructed to keep quiet about the layoffs, and that the contracted employees were not offered severance packs and were expected to continue to work for the remainder of October 2023 following their termination. As a result of the layoffs and a recent project reevaluation, the multiplayer game was put "on ice".[10]
In November 2023, Gyrling left Naughty Dog after 17 years with the studio.[11]
In December 2023, Naughty Dog announced that it would stop development on its multiplayer The Last of Us game, titled The Last of Us Online. In a statement announcing the game's cancellation, Naughty Dog cited the extensive resources required to maintain live-service games as a reason for the decision, as this would force the studio to abandon its work on single-player titles to properly support The Last of Us Online. In the same statement, Naughty Dog confirmed it was working on several single-player projects.[12]
In February 2024, Naughty Dog was named as one of several internal studios to be impacted by a significant round of layoffs at Sony Interactive Entertainment of roughly 900 employees.[13]
Studio culture and design philosophy[]
Naughty Dog employees tend to refer to their studio as "the Kennel".[14]
ICE Team[]
- "Shuhei [Yoshida] thought that Naughty Dog would be a good base of operation, and after some conversation with the [studio] founders Jason Rubin and Andy Gavin, we decided to free up some people from Jak & Daxter and use them as a base from which to grow a technology team."
- ―Mark Cerny on ICE Team's origins.[15]
ICE Team (ICE originally standing for Initiative for a Common Engine) is one of Sony Interactive Entertainment and PlayStation Studios's central technology groups. It was founded near the beginning of PlayStation 3's lifespan as part of then-PlayStation Studios head Shuhei Yoshida's plan to save operation and development costs by increasing collaboration and development support across Sony's American studios. The original ICE Team was founded by several Naughty Dog employees who worked on the Jak and Daxter series.[16] Naughty Dog describes the ICE Team's responsibilities as providing or developing low-level game engine components, graphics processing pipelines, supporting tools, and graphics profiling and debugging tools.[17]
Notable personnel[]
Current[]
- Management
- Neil Druckmann (joined 2004) - co-president, head of creative, creative director
- Arne Meyer (joined 2008) - vice president, head of culture, head of communications
- Alison Mori (joined 2010) - vice president, studio manager, head of operations
- Travis McIntosh (joined 2004) - programming director, head of technology
- Anthony Newman (joined 2009) - head of production and design
- Erick Pangilinan (joined 1997) - art director, co-head of art department
- Jeremy Yates (joined 2002) - co-head of art department
- Other
- Vinit Agarwal (joined 2014) - designer, game director
- Shaun Escayg (2011 - 2018; rejoined 2021) - animator, creative director
- Matthew Gallant (joined 2012) - designer, game director
- Halley Gross (joined 2016) - narrative lead
- Kurt Margenau (joined 2008) - designer, game director
- Joseph Pettinati (joined 2015) - editor, creative director
- Emilia Schatz (joined 2009) - lead game designer
Former[]
- Christophe Balestra (2002 - 2017) - co-president of Naughty Dog 2005-2017
- Andy Gavin (1984 - 2004) - co-founder, lead programmer, co-studio head of Naughty Dog 1984-2004
- Christian Gyrling (2006 - 2023) - programmer, head of technology, vice president 2020-2023
- Amy Hennig (2003 - 2014) - writer, creative director
- Richard Lemarchand (2004 - 2012) - lead designer
- Bob Rafei (1997 - 2007) - art director
- Justin Richmond (2008 - 2014) - designer, game director
- Jason Rubin (1984 - 2004) - co-founder, game director, co-studio head of Naughty Dog 1984-2004
- Josh Scherr (2001 - 2022) - animator, writer, narrative designer
- Bruce Straley (1997 - 2017) - art director, game director
- Evan Wells (1998 - 2023) - lead designer, later president or co-president of Naughty Dog, 2004-2023
- Stephen White (1996 - 2005) - programmer, co-president of Naughty Dog 2004-2005
- Charles Zembillas (1996 - 2000) - art director
Relationship with other studios[]
First-party[]
Bend Studio[]
Naughty Dog and Bend Studio have been sister-studios since the former's acquisition by Sony Computer Entertainment in 2001. In 2008, Bend Studio was tasked with developing an entry within Naughty Dog's Uncharted series for the future PlayStation Vita, which would become 2011's Uncharted: Golden Abyss; Naughty Dog served as a supervisor and overseer over Bend Studio's work, including sharing existing assets with Bend Studio and allowing the Oregon team access to their motion-capture facilities.
Bluepoint Games[]
Naughty Dog and Bluepoint Games have been sister studios since 2021 with the latter's acquisition by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Prior to the acquisition, Bluepoint Games remastered the first three installments of the Uncharted series for the PlayStation 4, as part of 2015's Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection.
Insomniac Games[]
Naughty Dog and Insomniac Games have been sister-studios since 2019, when Insomniac was acquired. The two companies formed a close relationship tracing to their backgrounds as PlayStation partners with earlier projects sharing similarities, as well mutual work with game producer and designer Mark Cerny. At some point, Naughty Dog was based in the same building as Insomniac, which resulted in the two studios sharing knowledge and technologies with one another.[18]
Santa Monica Studio[]
Sucker Punch Productions[]
Naughty Dog and Sucker Punch Productions have been sister studios since 2011 with the latter's acquisition by Sony Computer Entertainment. For the development of The Last of Us Part II, Sucker Punch agreed to share their assets from 2014's Infamous Second Son with Naughty Dog, as both games use Seattle as their main setting. According to Neil Druckmann, the two studios also worked together on recording motion-capture for horses for The Last of Us Part II and Ghost of Tsushima.[19]
Third-party[]
High Impact Games[]
Iron Galaxy[]
Ready at Dawn[]
PlayStation games developed by Naughty Dog[]
Major releases[]
| Game title | Release | Platform | Additional Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Crash Bandicoot | 1996 | PlayStation | n / a |
| Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back | 1997 | PlayStation | n / a |
| Crash Bandicoot: Warped | 1998 | PlayStation | n / a |
| Crash Team Racing | 1999 | PlayStation | n / a |
| Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy | 2001 | PlayStation 2 | n / a |
| Jak II | 2003 | PlayStation 2 | n / a |
| Jak 3 | 2004 | PlayStation 2 | n / a |
| Jak X: Combat Racing | 2005 | PlayStation 2 | n / a |
| Uncharted: Drake's Fortune | 2007 | PlayStation 3 | n /a |
| Uncharted 2: Among Thieves | 2009 | PlayStation 3 | n / a |
| Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception | 2011 | PlayStation 3 | n / a |
| The Last of Us | 2013 | PlayStation 3 | n / a |
| Uncharted 4: A Thief's End | 2016 | PlayStation 4 | n / a |
| The Last of Us Part II | 2020 | PlayStation 4 | n / a |
| The Last of Us Part I | 2022 | PlayStation 5, PC | Remake of 2013's The Last of Us |
| Untitled single-player project | TBA | TBA | [20][21] |
Downloadable content and expansion packs[]
| Game title | Release | Platform | Additional Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Last of Us: Left Behind | 2014 | PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4 | Expansion pack for The Last of Us; standalone version released in 2015 |
| Uncharted: The Lost Legacy | 2017 | PlayStation 4 | Standalone expansion pack for Uncharted 4: A Thief's End |
Remasters and re-releases[]
| Game title | Release | Platform | Additional Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Last of Us: Remastered | 2014 | PlayStation 4 | Remaster of The Last of Us, includes Left Behind expansion pack |
| Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection | 2015 | PlayStation 4 | Remaster collection of Uncharted: Drake's Fortune, Uncharted 2: Among Thieves and Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception; co-developed with Bluepoint Games |
| Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves Collection | 2022 | PlayStation 5, PC | Remastered collection of Uncharted 4: A Thief's End and Uncharted: The Lost Legacy; PC version ported by Iron Galaxy |
| The Last of Us Part II: Remastered | 2024 | PlayStation 5 | Remaster of The Last of Us Part II |
Other projects[]
| Game title | Release | Platform | Role | Additional Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Daxter | 2006 | PlayStation Portable | Supervision | Developed by Ready at Dawn |
| Jak and Daxter: The Lost Frontier | 2009 | PlayStation Portable, PlayStation 2 | Original concept, supervision | Developed by High Impact Games |
| Jak and Daxter Collection | 2011 | PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable | Original concept and development, supervision | Developed by High Impact Games |
| Uncharted: Golden Abyss | 2011/2012 | PlayStation Vita | Supervision, narrative consultation | Developed by Bend Studio |
Non-video game works[]
| Title | Release | Format | Genre | Additional Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grounded: The Making of The Last of Us | February 28, 2014 | Video | Documentary | Co-produced with Area 5 |
| From Dreams - The Making of The Last of Us: Left Behind | February 28, 2014 | Video | Documentary | Co-produced with Area 5 |
| Uncharted | February 7, 2022 | Film | Action-adventure | Executive production |
| The Last of Us | January 15, 2023 - ongoing | Television series | Science-fiction, post-apocalypse, drama | Co-produced with PlayStation Productions, Sony Pictures Television, The Mighty Mint and Word Games |
| Grounded II: The Making of The Last of Us Part II | TBA | Video | Documentary | Co-produced with Area 5 |
Cancelled projects[]
| Game title | Platform | Genre | Additional Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Last of Us Online | unknown | Third-person shooter | Cancelled in 2023 |
References[]
- ↑ https://www.videogameschronicle.com/news/naughty-dog-says-its-still-struggling-with-multi-project-development/
- ↑ https://www.psu.com/news/naughty-dog-has-now-grown-to-over-400-people-is-working-on-several-projects/
- ↑ At E3 2006, Phil Harrison stated that combined sales for Crash Bandicoot and Jak and Daxter reached 40 million copies. In 2017, Naughty Dog confirmed the Uncharted series reached over 41 million copies, and in 2022 the studio confirmed The Last of Us franchise sold over 37 million copies.
- ↑ Goldberg, Harold. All Your Base Are Belong to Us: How Fifty Years of Videogames Conquered Pop Culture, 2011.
- ↑ https://www.ign.com/articles/2013/10/04/rising-to-greatness-the-history-of-naughty-dog
- ↑ https://www.gamedeveloper.com/pc/sony-acquires-naughty-dog
- ↑ https://www.naughtydog.com/blog/studio_announcement_dec2020
- ↑ CO-PRESIDENT EVAN WELLS ANNOUNCES HIS RETIREMENT FROM NAUGHTY DOG, Naughty Dog Blog. July 11th, 2023.
- ↑ https://www.naughtydog.com/blog/neil_druckmann_naughty_dog_studio_leadership_team
- ↑ https://kotaku.com/naughty-dog-ps5-playstation-sony-last-us-part-3-layoffs-1850893794
- ↑ https://www.gamedeveloper.com/business/naughty-dog-s-technology-head-christian-gyrling-departs-after-17-year-tenure
- ↑ https://www.naughtydog.com/blog/an_update_on_the_last_of_us_online
- ↑ https://www.ign.com/articles/sony-announces-significant-playstation-layoffs-affecting-900-staff-london-studio-to-close
- ↑ https://www.gamesradar.com/uncharted-2-anniversary-making-of/
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xHXrBnipHyA
- ↑ https://www.pushsquare.com/news/2013/07/theres_a_secret_room_inside_naughty_dog_thats_as_cold_as_ice
- ↑ Naughty Dog Linkedin account.
- ↑ https://www.ign.com/articles/2012/09/28/always-independent-the-story-of-insomniac-games?
- ↑ https://www.gameinformer.com/exclusive-interview/2021/08/28/naughty-by-nature-naughty-dog-leadership-reflects-on-the-studios
- ↑ https://www.thegamer.com/the-last-of-us-multiplayer-most-ambitious-project-ever-naughty-dog/
- ↑ https://www.theverge.com/23735862/naughty-dog-new-single-player-game-multiplayer