According to Schreier, in the gaming industry it is almost impossible to find a game created without constant revisions, but Naughty Dog stands out even against this background.
Workers at the company call the work environment dual: this studio can be both the best and worst work place in the world. On the one hand, you create the best games in the industry, but on the other, you work 12 hours on weekdays, and also come on weekends, sacrificing health, relationships with family and personal life.
A similar culture resulted in the fact that 70% of designers no longer work in the studio Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End – This has largely affected the production of The Last of Us: Part II. Apparently, that’s why we have been waiting for the sequel to come out for so long.
They were replaced by newcomers, many of whom came almost from the school, but after months of training, they were asked from them for the same quality of work as from the company’s veterans.
Some Naughty Dog veterans endure and even enjoy crunching, while some of them have managed to find the opportunity to work only during working hours.
Schreier Investigation
Schreyer notes that the crunching culture at Naughty Dog is not hiding. Moreover, this is actually spoken directly. First of all, people who are ready to stay to work almost at night are recruited into the studio. Everything to create the perfect game.
At Naughty Dog, no one is asked to stay after business hours. No one should ask. They will still work on it.
Schreier Investigation
In his investigation, Schreier recalls Bruce Streley, who, after Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End, “burned out” and left Naughty Dog. He could not imagine the same enthusiasm that was during the creation of Uncharted 2: Among Thieves and the original The Last of Us.
Bruce Streley and Neil Drackmann
After Uncharted 4, Naughty Dog split into two teams: one was Uncharted: The Lost Legacy, whose production relied more on processing, and the other began pre-production of The Last of Us sequel.
Neil Drackmann and the team tried to plan ahead in order to avoid crunches. Everything went well exactly until E3 2018, when it became clear that many ideas “on paper” in the end do not work as intended. Testers met many of the ideas with no enthusiasm.
Then the game began to expand, process and change.
Similar iterations are often found in game creation. Thanks to this, very memorable moments appear in Naughty Dog games. For example, in the first The Last of Us there was initially no scene with giraffes.
The hardest part in game production is the decent implementation of “cool-sounding” ideas, but this can add months of extra work.
Schreier Investigation
With each day of development, The Last of Us: Part II only increased. By the end of 2018, all Naughty Dog units worked in constant crunch.
At the same time, again, no one was forced to stay overtime, however, everyone continued to work, so it was awkward to leave.
You felt obligated to stay after the shift because everyone else continued to work.
If you need to insert animation, but you weren’t there for help, you stopped the animator. He would be unhappy with you.
He may not even say this, but his gaze will be eloquent.
Former Naughty Dog employee
But this is just the tip of the iceberg. There were situations when some specialists worked for months on content that was no longer required because it was cut out. Producers should help establish production, but at Naughty Dog, each employee is a personal producer.
Thanks to such freedom, bureaucracy is minimized. For example, if someone wants sandbags to empty out during a shot, nobody will stop him. On the other hand, there is poor communication within the company, which is why games can change dramatically.
In mid-February, Naughty Dog managed to persuade Sony to transfer the shipment of The Last of Us: Part II to print for two weeks. Prior to this, the game was postponed for three months – initially the release was scheduled for late February.
Many people believe that the transfer allows developers to exhale at least a little, to avoid overtime, but this is not so – the company’s employees “maintain the same pace”, so extra time for development means additional crunch.
But some developers at Naughty Dog have nothing against the culture of the studio, which has existed since time immemorial. They are well paid, honestly treated and given a long vacation after the release of the game.
Overtimes do not pay, but they can receive serious bonuses after the release of the game.
Schreier Investigation
Epilogue of Jason Schreier
The Last of Us: Part II will be released on May 29. Those working on it are sure that it will be a phenomenal and yet another magnificent example in the Naughty Dog mission to create a masterpiece at all costs. Some are sure that this is the best game of the studio.
Nevertheless, there are those who still work at Naughty Dog and at the same time wish the new product a failure. Low press ratings can show companies that such a way to make games is not the best. Such sacrifices are not necessary, and the project is not worth the loss of all these talents.
Perhaps, regardless of the number of victories in the “Game of the Year” nomination, the percentage on Metacritic, Joel’s eyebrow hair and grains of sand in the bag, it’s not worth it.
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