Michael Knowland, Naughty Dog’s lead character artist, has created a stunning next-gen quality model of Breaking Bad protagonist Walter White. Yes Mr White..yeah art!
A few months ago former Naughty Dog Lead Character Artist Michael Knowland left the prominent Sony first party studio. Today it was revealed that he joined Mad Max Developer Avalanche Studios.
Working on Just Cause 3? We haven't even heard of its existence yet! It must be in development right?!?
I'm pretty sure they have confirmed Just Cause 3 for the current gen consoles.
Naughty Dog is working on a new game besides the new Uncharted, and today it's revealed that it's an AAA title, while the departed Lead Character Artist was working on Uncharted 4's Nathan Drake.
Savage Starlight.
If it's not, then whatever they are making will undoubtedly be pure gold.
But i really do hope it's Savage Starlight, a Sci-Fi ND game would be a dream come true.
theyre making another AAA?
jesus,
tlou re
u4
this game and who knows a very likely tlou sequel.
overworked much?
Well, they have over 200 people, and TLOU remastered's finished basically.
They're not overworked if they choose to work long hours. That's called dedication and passion. They aren't slaves, lol.
Plus, now that TLOUR is finished, they can afford to move onto something else. I for one can not wait to see what it is they're working on. I'd give my left nut for a tour of their studio and a peek at their next game.
I'm hoping 4 the Last Of Us 2 or maybe a pre sequel would love to know why Tommy and Joel fell out. Would love to see Joel as a Hunter and Tommy as a firefly in conflict with each other , Also would love to play as Ish as the main character loner, turn hero, then his fall.
Pretty sure that They've walked away from JAK and Daxter. This more than likely is The Last of Us 2, but with how I feel anything else within that universe wouldn't really have the same impact, Joel and Ellie's Story was such an amazing one. I just don't see how that could continue. With uncharted its very much possible. but it would be weird to not see Joel or Ellie return in a sequel. They are just that freaking GOOD of charaters.
I'll Take a New IP, a new Uncharted, hell I'll take anything from ND, they are GOLD!!!!
This is probably TLOU2. Even if most of us agree the game doesn't need a sequel, with the success of the first one will be too tempting for sony not to try to push naughty dog towards that oh so common trilogy path
They usually have 2 games in development at once. One in full production, the other in early pre production.
@Lukas
Yes! Just throw those codemonkeys a banana and they'll work, chained to their keyboards, on AAA titles for us 16 hours a day with big grins on their mugs, while we get to enjoy the product of their hard labor.
For relz! These cats and their families need to get something for their sacrifice...DQ every third Tuesday or something.
Ok as Sevir said too TLoU is too tricky to surpass...it was that good indeed. they should give it a couple years before they go at it I mean we are having our TLoU fix in 15 days after all. We dont need another one in a year!
I for one would like to see ND do something like Mass Effect with some Witcher blended in! Now that would be awesome!
Another idea is for them to make an open world game, I can only imagine at this point.
I'm sure about one thing though I would hate for them to end up like some other developers who are forced to milk the same couple IPs year on year!
If their first try into a new IP after 10 years ended up being the most critically acclaimed game of all time and one of the most loved games ever then hell I'd have them make new IPs every day of the week! Lets not forget they made Uncharted 7 years ago too!
I can imagine if a Sony shareholder read this comment he would go "This guy is high as kite if he thinks we wont milk them to death hahahah, new IP? hahahaahah"
Remember, they are a pretty huge studio. I wouldn't be surprised if they make a TLOU sequel/prequel AND a new game/IP at the same time.
I don't think they;re just gonna stick to TLOU and UC4 (although i wouldn't complain), i think the are gonna throw another franchise into the mix.
What is this Savage Starlight? If its unannounced why is people saying Savage Starlight? But what is it anyway?
Lukas bro, I'm hyped for ND's UC4, and the new IP.
Plus pretty interesting information.
Why does everything have to be scifi these days?! omg I dont see people's appeal yeah sure its cool but ive seen it getting so abused recently people have been asking for scifi versions of gta, uncharted, etc, etc. Why? I dont understand, as I said its sorta cool but please people lets not abuse it and milk it like the vampire genre in movies.
@Beast
Because it's a genre that ND have never done. Imagine a story driven Sci-Fi game from ND, with their talent when it comes to believable and likeable characters. Not to mentions the visuals. It would be epic.
I feel like slapping the people that whine about Last of Us being remastered. "I would rather a brand new game".
Just how much can Naughty Dog give before they stop feeling entitled?
I guess that's just what happens when you're the top dogs (lol). Their games are higher quality than most, thus expectations are higher, and so is the hate/criticism.
well now that uncharted 4 is the last uncharted game they have an opening for their second studio. IMO i hope after the last of us remastered releases they use the knowledge they got from porting to ps4 then go balls deep into developing the last of us 2 for ps4 with that ending they have too really. would crash bandicoot be considered an AAA? other than that naughty dogs other studio game could be anything.
I'm thinking soon after the release of TLOR, they will be starting on a new project, then, after UC4 has shipped, they will start on another project. Seeing as UC4 will most likely be the last in the series, 'project 2' will take it's spot (probably a new IP). Then the other team will rotate between making TLOU sequels/prequels throughout the generation, and other games (crash?).
You mean a game LIKE Savage Starlight
I don't see why you would want an actual SS game
A game based off a comic within a game....sorry that's just too weird for me and it would bug me too much. I always feel it would relate to the Last of Us universe when it's a totally different universe.
So hopefully it's a game like Savage Starlight...not actually SS it's self.
We first found out about The Last Of Us through a newspaper in Uncharted 3. No reason to suggest that Naughty Dog isn't working on Savage Starlight.
http://www.savagestarlight....
Believe.
A newspaper as an easter egg is a little bit better then a full blown established comic which the characters talk about.
It's not like Drake and Sully comment on the newspaper article.
I think savage starlight is GG's new rpg... thats meant to be sci fi too. Edit: ignore me ofc savage starlight was the comic series in the last of us-wasnt that an actual comic series they asked permission to use though?
I love it, how the industry lures dumb customers with stuff like AAA or 60fps and 1080p. Not that 1080p and 60fps is a bad thing, but there is so much more, to make graphics look beautiful and I somehow believe, just so that a game has 60fps and 1080p, that Antialiasing and so on suffers from it, then the game looks actually worse, but hey, dumb customer thinks it is the best as it can get.
No, I dont feel superior, it is more like, I feel offended by the industry, because why do they pull this crap all the time? Obviously, because they truly think their customers must be really dumb.
nothing new here, naughty dog president confirmed this a long time ago that they have something more AAA thing in development apart from The Last of Us Remastered and Uncharted 4
It's ok if you don't read an article, but at least make an effort to read and understand the headline.
Oh, and nice attempt to a ninja Edit. They never once said it was AAA.
"something more AAA thing" lol. At least try to ninja edit in English.
Spoiler :
hope its the last of us 2 considering the ending and the fact that its even more popular than uncharted and that game could its fair share of sequels. I want to see 16 year old ellie cause joel problems when she finds out the truth and runs away.
Interesting, yes.
But What exactly makes this worthy of being the top article on N4G?
The obvious fact that new games are coming out for these consoles?
Or just the fact that people get way too excited about a lead artist doing art, even though we don't know what he's doing next?
Or is it JUST because it's Naughty Dog?
That last question was rhetorical.
I mean, yeah, we all have favorite developers, but the amount of people infatuated with the non-definitive hinting about diameter, length, and circumference of bowel movements in the corporate office restrooms st Naughty Dog is ridiculous.
This is not top story material in the slightest.
With Uncharted 4 being the main title they are working on, and TLOU just got finished, they are most likely just going through ideas to get the creative muscles moving. Dont forget Uncharted most likely isnt gonna release until late next year so dont get to far ahead of yourselves and think that this other game is like in full production or anything.
A) they said a cpuple of months ago it was in production but only just so the team working ob it was significant but no bigger than like 30-50 people. They also said because of their unique structure people will do stuff for say tlou remastered or this for a week orntwo then help with something on uncharted for a few days then switch back etc. They have an awful lot of freedom andbi suspect thats why the games theh make end up so good andbat such a high level of quality. Also Uncharted seems far more likely to get a may/june release like the last of us did what with GG new ip heavily rumoured to hit next fall sonynwill want to gove that some breathing space im sure and a game like uncharted doesnt fit a september launch. Butbas the las blockbuster before the summer gaming drought? We've already seen that allows games to sell exceptionally well, not get buried under other high profile releases And get good wordnof mouth coverage see: red dead redemption, the last of us and Watch_dogs sales... next summer I reckon rockstars nee game (likely red dead , uncharted and if its finished and ubisoft are smart the division will all release april, may, june or may, june and july.)
What is this 'Savage Starlight' you speak of? If it's Sci-Fi, I'm in. Actually, I'm probably in, regardless since it's Naughty
GearNuke: "According to the listing on the Linkedin profile of Michael Knowland, he has left Naughty Dog after working for them as Lead Character artist for more than 3 years."
Whos next to leave naughty dog... I predict the dog itself. But seriously tho this is no longer something that can be ignored something really bad is happening at that studio and i fear for the uncharted series
You mean four people in 250 leaving a company across two months?
Yeah. It can be ignored, because it's absolutely normal, and it's hilarious to see how now people scramble to report on it like it's big news :D
Four people in the space of a couple of weeks apart. Also these people leaving are a higher ups who are deeply involved with the uncharted series not secretary or receptionist. Also if you paid any attention i said uncharted series not naugty dog as a studio
1: across a couple *months*
2: Knowland wasn't involved in uncharted. He was part of the TLOU team, which is separate from the Uncharted team.
Conclusion: you're wrong. This is entirely normal in the industry. Other companies just don't have tens of hungry journos browsing their linkedin lists because "sky is falling at naughty dog" = money :D
At the very least, it's factual information, which is more than what I cuold say for those Tidux 'rumors'.
I think some camps are desperate for this to be a sign that Naughty Dog is falling apart ( I wonder why!) However this is fairly normal in the industry, Michael Knowland only started there 3 years ago so he would not have been involved in Uncharted 1,2,3 character design and had minimal to do with The Last of Us.
At the company I work at we have last 12 people in 2 months (from 250) does not mean we are going out of business.
Wow you must be joking if you think nothing is going on with Naughty Dog but somehow when some random Sony country division says the word "Naughty", they are going to reveal the next Naughty Dog game ROFL.
While this is certainly true, these are some of the key people at the studio.
Ones, if you remember, Sony assured us were working on Uncharted on PS4 when they first announced it's existence.
These are not just another employee, these are leaders at naughty dog. Just brushing over this is ridiculous.
However I'm sure they will be fine. They had a similar turn over between the ps2 to ps3 generation
all your articles are rubbish based on tweets and rumours, so i fail to see how this is any different
Whether it is nothing or it is something in reality is irrelevant at this point. They are one of the best known gaming studios in the world and all of this is happening just after the release of a new console when ppl are deciding whether to invest in a new product.
Its about perception now. I was the biggest advocate that nothing was wrong but now I am a little worried. Why? B/c if it was simply nothing they would comment. Yes it is normal for ppl to leave after successful games launch and rap up. But Henning departure wasnt amicable and I am sure that she was beyond beloved at ND.
Hey Sony, if it t ruely is nothing, comment on it. Set us at ease.
It's gotten to a point now where i would like Naughty Dog or Sony to let us know what's going on. I know the media like to sensationalise things like this with top tier studios, and i know ND are still a huge team, but i would like to know what is going on, for two reasons -
1. To give reassurance/confidence to actual, genuine fans of ND.
2. To hush the Xbox fanboys who spew fake concern and hyperbole everywhere. Only the most bitter of fanboy would actually make fun of studio lay-offs/departures.
Although, i do realise this guy isn't working on Uncharted 4. But still, a little communication would be nice.
Yeah, this really is normal. It's only news because Naughty Dog is a very successful studio and people thrive on drama.
Sounds like an important person to me "Lead Character Artist" on a prestigious game like The Last Of Us just up and leaves? lets not forget Nate Wells, Justin Richmond, Amy Hennig all leaving as well and they also held top positions
Concern is valid
@Bennibop: "he had minimal to do with The Last of Us" lol he was the Lead Character Artist dog, the keyword is "Lead" meaning he ran things, now hes out, how is this a good sign for ND exactly?
Until you actually hear someone saying I've left because of XYZ, then there is no reason to say the company is in trouble.
If someone really had a problem or was fired, we would hear about it, but the fact is out of everyone who has left, none have turned round to say a bad thing about the company.
The truth of the matter is, this is a creative industry employing creative people.
Creative people want to go off and do new things, it's in their nature.
An example of this is "Papers please".
Here is another guy who worked at Naughty dog and then went off to do his own thing.
http://reason.com/archives/...
"At the very least, it's factual information, which is more than what I cuold say for those Tidux 'rumors'."
Tidux has been extremely reliable as insiders go. It would be odd to get 100% accuracy from such persons. That usually smells like a plant. But he is as close to 100 as we have seen lately.
"... the keyword is "Lead" meaning he ran things, now hes out, how is this a good sign for ND exactly?"
Carmack was a Lead. But his skills had stagnated. How earthshaking was Id Tech 5? There was a lot of talk about mega texturing and IT5 being the Holy Grail leading up to the release of Rage and then it went flat.
Leads often need to be replaced to reinvigorate matters, because that person does have other goals, or because they simply have not kept up with the changes necessary to insure cutting edge production. There may have been someone else chosen to be the lead and his ego would not withstand such a blow. We simnply do not currently have insight as to why 4 people left across a period of months.
I guess this is the price you pay for being the most famous development team in the world.
Okay let me explain a few things for people who seem clueless as to a persons involvement in the creative process, be it movies, games, comics, an art installation etc.
Uncharted 4 started pre-production right after uncharted 3 wrapped up.
Amy Hening's work would have been over before she left, her involvement as creative director and writer to the uncharted series would have been mostly completed during pre-production, before they artists and level designers even started bulding assets. She was offered to work on a game that sparked her imagination back in the 70's, of course she's not going to turn down that offer, and she would have made sure the work she'd done was in capable hands before leaving.
If Michael Knowland was the Lead Character Designer on The Last Of Us, his work would have started in pre-production too, around the time the first or second draft of the script was in and they had an idea of who these characters would ultimately be, concept art would be drawn up etc (not sure if he also worked on physical 3d character models, but his job title suggests otherwise). He may also have left to look for something new, or was offered something he couldnt pass up. It's also possible after finishing up on The Last Of Us he was given arole on the uncharted team that would have been a step down from his previous role as Lead Character Designer. Or he was working on early concept designs for a possible Last Of Us sequel and now he's done with that and moving on.
You also need to understand Naughty Dog is home to some of the best talent in the industry, they don't operate within a hierarchy and everyone gets equal input on a game, artists and programmers work in tangent, and it's actually a very rare thing in this industry. VERY rare. There's little corporate meddling getting in the way and it's this laid back, we're all equals kind of attitude that was the reason Druckmann could approach the studio lead about possibly splitting in two and making this idea he has for a post apocalyptic game.
So taking that in to account, of course their services will be in high demand, other studios will want the talent and it's not uncommon for this to happen, they will be flooded with offers and now and then one will seem too good to pass up. Some like oh say, getting to write for Star Wars.
Or you know, in your free time, just making THE BEST RAMBO GAME EVER!
You also need to understand how the media operates. The hobo across the street that hassles the staff for change when they go on lunch could move to a new street and it would be reported by gaming sites the world over, because right now reporting on anything changing at naughty dog is guaranteed hits and sweet sweet ad revenue.
Where were all these stories when people left during the development of UC1,2,3 and TLOU? Nowhere, because we werent at the dawn of the new console generation and the last of us was yet to be in the consumers hands, so we didn't have so much hope and anticipation and mystery surrounding their next game. It wasn't sensationalist enough back then.
Honestly if anyone thinks this is a big deal to naughty dog, and that they're "doomed". I'm sorry but you are an imbecile, you have no idea what creative minds are like, or how a creative industry operates. I hope some day you do, but until then please don't go spouting off like you do or joining in on sensationalist journalism, its a dirty tactic and gives genuine journalists a bad name. You may as well be reading the Tabloids.
something IS going on at Naughty Dog. Amy, who created Uncharted, was removed from the team (she didn't quit. she was removed). They recast the only confirmed actor after he'd already done mocap work, whom mysteriously followed Amy Hennig to work on the Star Wars game. And the Art director left. The only 3 names associated with Uncharted on Ps4 are now gone. And now this guy just left.
Look I like Uncharted and Naughty Dog as much as the next guy. Them and Rockstar are tied for the best developers of our time. But you have to call a spade a spade here. Something funky is going on at the studio. Not to say Uncharted won't come and it won't be great. You'd have to be blisteringly ignorant to say this is normal.
@everyone who says any company is going under because they loosed someone important
This is a summary of What has Marc Whitten has done for Microsoft and Xbox team division :
"Marc has delivered three console generations and one of the world's largest entertainment networks: Xbox, Xbox 360, Xbox One and Xbox LIVE to market. With more than 100 million units now sold and more than 50 million active users on the service, he has led the product and vision of one of the largest and most loved entertainment ecosystems in the world.
Marc is a customer-focused visionary product leader – obsessed with using technology and design to deliver a simpler and more magical experience across all your entertainment: “The entertainment you want, with the people you care about, wherever you are – made easy.”
Under his leadership:
• Xbox LIVE has grown to over 50 million users and expanded far beyond being the best gaming service to deliver the best entertainment service in the living room.
• Xbox 360 changed the definition of a console by shipping new, deeply innovative software changes on an accelerating schedule – including the critically acclaimed “New Xbox Experience” and services such as voice-powered Bing search across all your content.
• Xbox One has come to market – smashing the Xbox record by selling over 2 million units in less than three weeks – and delivering on an integrated all-in-one experience that combines all your entertainment around you.
• Kinect has launched and heralded a new era of natural user interface by allowing you to use gesture, vision, and voice to control your world.
• The Xbox organization has grown from a tiny startup within Microsoft to a world-class organization.
• Every version of the Xbox user experience has broken new ground in terms of functionality and usage."
So by popular believes like what's happening at many studios right now, Xbox team is doomed?
That's what happens when you have top talent, other companies offer them big money to come work for them, it's called head hunting and has been going on forever.
People leaving studios to work for other studios is nothing new, people leaving studios to start there own company is nothing new. The only thing new about it as everyone seems to think it's some huge deal, and really this is just some attempt to slow down the massive PS4 hype.
@Abriael
You think its only 4 people out of 250? You think we're gonna hear about every assistant, 2nd assistant and whatever else that leaves?
No, we only gonna hear about the leads and department heads.
4 keys leaving in such a short period from any company is a bit worrisome if you ask me.
@Mega,
Not exactly apples to apples is it? Marc's padded resume is hardly the same as losing talent in multiple positions at Naughty Dog. There is no doubt "something" is happening. It could be Sony restructuring with ND seeing budget cuts. It can be contracts not being renewed. It can be people wanting to move on to something new. With NDA's in place we will most likely never know. What people are finding odd is the fact ND is one of the best development houses out right now and you would assume people would never want to leave. That's not realistic though. With ND's success, these key people are probably at the height of their careers and at the best point to make a move.
yeah like it was just some random programmer or tester. the people leaving are the top employees responsible for the games success. keep spinning it though if that makes you feel better.
Yep, picking on Naughty Dog is the big thing right now because they are at the top. Sure, some high profile people have left, but then again, I'm willing to bet they are being promised the world from these other studios. Acquiring someone from Naughty Dog has to be considered the big win in talent acquisition these days. In the end, the vast majority of of the people who made the games we love are still there.
There's nothing happening at Naughty Dog. If this was a case of Sony restructuring anything, then the scale would be much bigger than 4 people across two months. People are trying to stir up controversy over nothing.
I suppose Adam Sessler leaving Rev3 games means that Discovery Network was in deep trouble and needed to let him go right?
And what about Joe Staten? He's been with Bungie for years, he was the creator and writer for all of bungie's halo games, he also voiced the grunts. He has been with them a long time, He was the brainchild responsible for the world of Destiny, a planned trilogy and their first foray in to a multiplatform title. He left before the first game has even come out? Going off how people makes these things such a black and white issue, I guess that means bungie are doomed too huh?
His work on Destiny was over long ago, as a writer the story and universe would have been one of the very first things fleshed out and conceptualized, ever here of the Halo Bible? It was a supposedly large book/notepad/whatever full of all the key points that would happen in the Halo story, backgrounds and dossiers on characters, worlds, species etc.
All of this was written by Joe Staten when Halo was originally under development as an RTS for Apple Mac computers. It's safe to say he's most likely done the same with Destiny, and the planned trilogy will be epic. See joe, like a lot of these people leaving NAughty Dog, left for a new position, a very high profile high paying job at the Xbox Division in fact.
He's spent the last 14 years writing scripts for games and being a creative lead in the process and also directing the voice actors. He's going off to do something new and challenging and more power to him for doing it.
Its the same with these naughty dog departures and a lot of other staff departures from many other big studios you people just don't hear about because, simply, its not naughty dog or someone high up.
It's not deemed news worthy or sensationalist enough to warrant hits from people who fall for that crap.
Did nobody care to notice Jaime Greiseimer, the guy responsible for the "15 seconds of fun" that was Halos core reason for being so fun to play, leave Bungie?
Not at all, but you sure made a big deal about it after he left Sucker Punch once production on Second Son finished up.
I wonder why that is?
Could it be because there is nothing coming from sony in the last year that could be deemed spin-worthy or headline grabbing other than people leaving their job for a new job or not having their contracts renewed? And these days, thats all insane fanboys have to clutch to, to make them feel less insecure about their purchase?
At the end of the day, the people singing doom and gloom about this, are just very insecure people looking for reasons to justify their own purchase, or people who have no idea how common this is in the industry and gets strung along by Headlines and Sensationalist journalism. Go watch FOX News or something, I think you'll really enjoy how they deliver the "news".
Ps4 fans stop the damage control, this is not another routine departure. A majority of the leadership for their top two games are leaving. The worst part is that most are leaving for lateral positions and they aren't leaving kind words for Sony or ND. This is not good news for the studio.
Truefan...why are you here? Ask yourself that. You will never own a PS4, nor will you ever play and Naughty Dog game. There is zero reason for you to be in here, trolling and spreading hyperbole. I know how much you desperately....DESPERATELY want ND to crumble to the ground, but im sorry, it ain't happening.
I know the success of their games and success of the company as a whole makes you bitter to your core, but they are still a massive studio full of arguably the most talented people in the industry such as Neil Druckmann, Bruce Sraley and Corrinne Yu....to name a few. Whatever they put out is gold and will continue to be gold, revered by the entire industry.
You're just making yourself look like an insecure little X1 fanboy who sees a tiny opportunity to spread BS about a company that intimidates you and makes you jealous of their games. I wonder if you also commented on any of the hundreds of praise articles for ND games over the years?.......Probably not.
This is normal for the industry. Remember how they hired corrine yu (sp?). People come and go fast in the industry.
@ christian hour
Your 2 posts are thoughtful and chock full of logic. Bubbles to you.
Naughty Dog are in trouble? In what conceivable way could Sony's #1 studio be in the line of fire at the cusp of a new-generation, when they're less than 2 months from showing gameplay from Uncharted 4 and announcing a release date?
I smell what was possibly a shake-up, but in trouble? Ridiculous.
------
@ Lukas
I don't think there's been a person so desperate to see Naughty Dog crash and burn, since J-blaze was around these parts to be honest.
Every year a team from the NFL wins the Super Bowl.
No one claims that "something really bad is happening" on the team when the players leave for bigger contracts with other teams.
Naughty Dog is the reigning "Super Bowl" Champions of Gaming (and have had multiple championships). Everyone wants the personnel on their team, so they offer contracts to those people.
What is so hard to understand here.
@digitalraptor
D'aaaaaaaw :3 I bet you say that to all the boys *swoon* :)
Seriously though thanks for the support/Michael Bublé's, sometimes it feels like I'm alone in here surrounded by crazy illogical fanboys from both sides of the fence.
Dog Lead dog of naughty dog Leaves Naughty Dog – Report
http://gscvoice.org/wordpre...
The company I work for employs less than a hundred people and has had more than ten people leave in the past couple months..... This is entirely normal in most careers, why is it so weird in the game industry?
I don't understand either. But i think gaming journalism became more and more like gossip or celebrity journo who put quantity and drama over quality.
Ur company had 10 ppl leave in a month...talk about job security...lol
also where do u work...I only ask because I wanted to know was it the partners...senior or junior...With experience leaving or was it new ppl to ur company
Wish I could agree with you twice Inception.
Gaming journalism is a joke these days.
Your company is not making franchises with loyal fans, this guy designed a major part of TLOU so if you guys are expecting a sequel, don't be mad if it sucks since your all ok with this
I work in Healthcare. Some people were new and weren't cutting it, some people had some years under them and some were chasing something better.
@unbiased so what's your take on halo, since bungee started it and it then went to 343 an entirely different company, is halo no longer good, or what about the upcoming gears game, I mean it's not being made by the same people, it went from epic to black tusk so is it going to suck, cause everyone seems to be hyped over.
TLOU 2 will not suck
Also what ppl forget is though it might be a dream to work at Naughty Dog but u also got to remember that expectations Naughty Dog Studio carries is very high & they expect your best when working their. I believe that sum of these devs may have felt that the pressure was also too much to handle especially after coming off a Masterpiece such as TLOU. To go right into the next project & try an push it even further, despite having better hardware to work with I can bet alot of pressure can run in sum of these devs minds because of Naughty Dogs high expectations for every game they create. Not saying this is the reason but im sure HIGH EXPECTATIONS is one of the reasons. I can only imagine the pressure especially knowing this is Naughty Dog were talking about.
I'm a software developer und used to change employer whenever a project I'd been involved in completed. There's more fluctuation in IT than in any other industry, I don't understand all the fuss.
First off what is ur job title and what did you mean to the companies u worked for
its not how many ppl that leave...it's who is leaving
Standard practice in project driven IT industry. People liked lawboy show how faboys are so ignorant.
@ force
how am I a fanboy...not once did I say anything about any company...
also..what I said is true...All companies have a turn over rate...but that does not include heads of department...and certainly doesn't include the top ppl in charge
most of those ppl are put into those position for a reason...There an investment...
and that's in any industry...it's business purr and simple
@Lawboy2
Can i make something clear to you?!
The last IP Naughty Dog made was Last of Us right? Neil Druckmann and Bruce Strately were the main people in charge (now if they left i would be concerned as they are also in charge of UC4)
A Lead Artist is not in charge of the project, he might lead the other artists through the project but unlike the Neil and Bruce, replacing can't be so much of a problem for a talented studio. This Lead Artist is not even involved in Uncharted
Amy Henning and Richmond did not work on Last Of Us, so were clearly not doing much after UC3, which Druckmann was also heavily incharge of
Thats how it works, these heads have worked there for years and now there will be a cycle of new people working on a new game who will eventually leave and so on and so forth
You just desperately want this to be bad news for Sony.
Lawboy rushing to turn Sony news into negativity, as usual.
Get a new hobby. Your grammar and punctuation skills need some work too.
lol, all these articles about employees leaving ND makes me think that somebody from the other side of the pond is extra worried about the success of ND, and thus is trying as hard as they can to make it appear as if something is wrong.
Thing is, this is absolutely normal in a sizable company with hundreds of employees, but like many other things if shined under the right light, it can cause panic and worry.
Interesting... ND must be doing something absolutely revolutionary to get this kind of attention. What is that I smell... MS panic? MS fear? Yup.
Sad MS needs to resort to Obama-like tactics, they can't be successful simply because they are doing things right, instead they trick people and deceive them using psychological warfare to get their way.
This means that ND is the target of the enemy because they are up to something that will change gaming forever in favor of the PS4. Good news indeed!
look... Uncharted is most likely nearing its completion, so some of the staff are not needed anymore. A lot of staff members are hired solely for one project and leave after their work is done. Yes they have a core staff that stays throughout the company's lifespan, but often they bring in specialized talent for a single project.
I don't know why suddenly people are reporting every departure as if its major, the game will be released, nothing's wrong with development and there's not Naught Dog Armageddon.
mikelarry - how old are you? you do realize ND has been a great dev house much longer than the last 3 years don't you??
real question is - how important he was and how can his leaving impact ND's further games?
You people need to stop overreacting. People change careers every freaking day. If the person has the experience and drive to move up in their career, then why shouldn't they take that opportunity? Or it could be for other reasons.
Stop assuming its terrible news.
Mate its the end/begginging of the fiscal year everybody is looking for more money or a new challenge something like the last of us is very enticing on a CV.
Some people want nice things some people wanna do something that better suits them.
Abriael
Thank you 4 people out of 250 in 2 months. also start of every generation a lot of developers leave for new studios. Its news because its ND who mad 2 of the best games on last generation
also to those saying this concerns them about next UC, well UC has been in development on PS4 for a while now.(since the end of UC3)
I wouldn't worry about it too much, ND hasn't disappointed us so far so let's give them the benefit of the doubt, instead of over reacting
The community manager at Crystal Dynamics left february, marketing VP left March, creative director left December for 343 industries and they cut a dozen positions last summer as well. They're a pretty big studio as well, but, I have barely heard anyone mention it.
Its clear Sony are suffering from financial issues. Hence why so many people have been leaving...more money elsewhere.
Oi oi oi, some people are gonna enjoy themselves with this.
Just my opinion, but how bout we wait to see how Uncharted turns out before saying Naughty Dog is doomed, because so far the studio never put out a bad game. Maybe this type of movement is normal and the internet being the magnifying glass it is, is just now letting us see the inner workings of game studios. Think of it like enjoying hot dogs till you read what's in it, had you never known you'd go about enjoying them without question.
Exactly.
Have you ever noticed that most sports team have a lot of players lose after they win the championship? It's not doom and gloom, but most get picked off by other teams. Personally, I don't know what's going on at ND and I don't care. Let them make their game and judge them based on the final product.
I think that's what people are hoping for. I feel bad for you and them though, because that's not going to happen. :(
I feel bad that anyone would WANT that to happen. I mean what has Naughty Dog ever done wrong?
Just shows how petty, close minded and stuck in their ways some people are. Pathetic. Probably baffled why no one likes them.
LMAO this about sums up what every xbox only person is hoping for. Naughty Dog is alive and well. IT is only because the teams are so good that they are able to get higher paying positions elsewhere...part of the benefit at working at the top developer.
@mkis007 that's a bit of an unfair comment. I'm an xbox only guy but I appreciate the games Naughty Dog produce and back in the days of the PS2, Jak and Daxter was a godsend in our house. Not all of us can afford to have two consoles and i'm personally waiting for more exclusives, such as the naughty dog IP's to be released on PS4 before i'm tempting to get it. Not all of us Xbox 'fan boys' are so narrow minded and hopefully it's the same for fans of other consoles.
I've had my share of run-ins with some of the more diehard Sony fans on this site, but who would want such a talented studio as Naughty Dog to go under? They are one of the main reasons I own a PS3 and PS4 to go along with my PC.
Well said gjruk.
I dont judge a person by what console they like but by their attitude and how they treat others. If Xbox is doing it for you, enjoy it dude.
The same can be said for those hoping for the demise of all things Xbox. That's just my two cents.
Oh man, this is just far too easy. I love how people take my comment and create all these assumptions from it XD
It's people like you that have made us xbox fans look like childish children. I don't understand why your doing it or what your trying to prove. I know to get the best out of the xbox, Sony and their studios need to be doing well and as a gamer, not just an xbox 'fan boy' I appreciate the games that are exclusive to other platforms, as I would hope fans of PlayStation would be of games like Halo. It's silly to start a flame war, you make yourself look silly but not only that, every xbox fan in the process.
Mkis007
" LMAO this about sums up what every xbox only person is hoping for" that's not true Atleast you could've said Xbox fanboy .
I hate the term fanboy. People use it to try to assert themselves as better than everyone else who doesn't share their opinion .
lol coming from someone who likes halo, well boyo halo hmm bungie had halo and left it boom btw thats a whole company lol.
Oh boy...You set yourself open for a whirlwind of backlash. You tried a stealthy troll attempt over a person leaving ND with two bubbles? lol Goodluck.
Big shakeup going on. Druckmann and Straley must be rubbing people the wrong way.
Or you know...their job is done on a project so they move on to something else? Which is common in these kinds of jobs...hired 3 years ago. Probably for tlou and now it's done. Once his work finished in that he probably helped and finished his work on U4 and now is moving on? But noooooo you people don't understand how this works so it's all doom and gloom for you.
At this rate, these second rate journalists will be writing a story about ND everytime someone farts.
When the hats on, he's Heisenberg
I love Breaking Bad as much as anyone else, and although this 3D rendering is really great - I can't see how a game could be made of it. It's not really necessary or as relevant as it once was.
Couldn't really see a good Breaking Bad game, as much as I love the show.
Why sony is not funding this?
Imagine a GTA like sandbox with naughty dog graphics and story quality.
/joking
As much as I love Naughty Dog and their work, I think Rockstar Games would be a better developer for adapting the Breaking Bad series.