Neil Druckmann revealed he wanted to kill Elena in Uncharted 2 but the idea was abandoned.
Speaking on what’s coming next for Naughty Dog, which could be either their new IP or The Last Of Us Part III, Druckmann gave what he seems to feel are realities of the project he’s talking about. That it’ll both be “really ambitious” but also “really hard.”
Neil Druckmann talks about Naughty Dog's Next Game which is really ambitious and parts of it are hard to make! pic.twitter.com/IqY2KEI1Gb
— DomTheBomb (@DomTheBombYT) March 1, 2024
"I’ve really surrendered to knowing it’s going to be really hard, knowing it’s going to stress members of the team out"
As if crunch wasn't stressing them enough
So the people who remained in a studio that had tons of workers quiting and others laid off said that they don't have to crunch, and you are just believing that
They absolutely will wind up having to crunch. Happens at the end of almost every software project development cycle, especially with release date pressures. It's part of the job. Obviously they aren't in a crunch when they aren't in that late phase. But it's wishful thinking if they think they won't see that stress again. Druckmann himself seems to be aware of that.
Yes I believe them. The people who want to crunch can do it. The people who mentally and physically can't, don't actually have to. Some have young babies at home. Things have changed since the Schreier report.
@helicoptergirl
It wishful thinking to think some workers can choose to crunch or not to do so. That’s akin to people you work with saying they don’t have to do work they don’t like and you’re the one that has to take up the slack. That’s not how things work. Especially if your the person assigned to a specific task that has to be completed for the development to move forward. It’s a team sport when it comes to making a game. As with most things in life. Now that they are a smaller group, it’s even more important for everyone to pull their weight. Peace
@rlow that was exactly the mentality before the exposure and it was talked about and reported on. It's different now. You know, sometimes things and attitudes just change for the better. They knew they needed to change and they have and they're not stopping trying to make the creative environment as good as it can be.
When someone pays another person to do a specific job in exchange for a certain rate of pay, it's called work.
They didn't sign to crunch and neither were they paid for it, people were hospitalized in Naughty Dog
Exactly most of these people wouldn’t last a season in the trades.
I f******* love how many people are doing a complete 180 on their views of crunch culture despite the awful stories reported on over the many years just because we’re talking about NaughtyDog
You can’t just cherry pick what to be mad about
“They signed a contract…it’s called work…that’s life…it’s a job”
I mean really guys, if this was EA you’d be having a field day
I bet you any money if any of these guys regardless of studio went in and said to their superior “Listen, don’t feel like the over time tonight, I’ll just stick to my normal contracted hours if that’s alright” I highly doubt they’d be given a warm response
@Tristan1982: The problem is crunch is because of the inefficient management and sudden changes in projects. ND made major story changes based on some feedback, that results in months of rework, redesign, etc. And none of those changes were built into the project from the get-go, so they still have to meet a deadline.
@H9: One person. And they did sign up for crunch, ND is notorious for hiring people who don't mind it. That's the problem, they tell you who they are, people just aren't listening. And, they did get paid, just their QA level of people are paid shit, which is an industry issue for something so freaking important. And people wonder why we have such broken games at launch. Because companies don't want to pay to deliver as long as people will buy enough to get them past first few months of patches and then re-release a major patch with an expansion to get people to come back.
@-Foxtrot " You can’t just cherry pick what to be mad about " -- N4G home of 'hold my beer' on that alone.
The kindda guy to guilt trip others into overwork or tell them to be better slaves ('employees'). Exactly what corps like. How does it taste?
Assuming you have a job, how would you feel working 80 hours a week for the same pay? You’ve not experienced crunch otherwise you wouldn’t be speaking like this.
As somebody who has crunched before. No, it wasn't my choice, no, you couldn't handle it, and no, you don't work in a better industry than I do.
exactly, get the game out before PS6 and if it takes crunch, or over time which you get paid for, get on with it
"Assuming you have a job"
Assuming I haven't worked more for less, I suppose. And yes, I do.
"Shh... your in the era of feeling sorry for people."
I feel awful for the people that fought for the workers and got stuck holding the bag and lost everything.
"no, you couldn't handle it, "
You mean "I"
I really hope this isn't management BS stress. I get wanting to put the best out, finding the best new ways and concepts, and ensuring your design is just top notch and not wasteful and fulfilling, but when I hear some manager talking about this my first thought is "Are these jerks changing paradigms on a regular basis that's making people play catch up and redo work to meet their new goals?"
That it’ll both be “really ambitious” but also “really hard.”
Not 'is' but 'will be', kinda suggests that they haven't started yet, hope not.
Come on ND, a game PLEAAAAASSSSEEEE. Desperate this gen.
From the article:
“Working on this new game, it’s really ambitious, parts of it are really hard,…”
That is the actual quote. They are already working on it.
Yeah, a lot of people push fake narratives about NaughtyDog and misquote things. That quote is very straightforward.
https://twitter.com/MitchyD...
Above is the complete debunking of a false story that still gets spread around all the time. And the bad faith actors doing it also only pin it on Druckmann for some reason and ignore Straley. They want to portray Druckmann as an evil schemer, even when the false story they're spreading doesn't align with their narrative. They don't care about reality ...
SuckerPunch doesn't get even 1% of this criticism and they haven't provided any update whatsoever on their next game, and it's a sequel not a new IP, so turnaround would be quicker. That's not logical.
Also, just off-topic slightly but..
Does anyone think that layoffs now may well be making space for AI integration of game development, and 'crunch-time', 'unsustainable', 'big budget' are all terms been used to butter us up to receiving the news that AI integration will help and maintain the level of AAA games that were accustomed to? Perhaps the layoffs were the devs that didn't join a union quick enough and if only they had the smarts of SAG members and strike while the time is right, before its too late?! Imagine DEV's on strike at a time like this, there's already a game drought.
I work in manufacturing. Layoffs here to. Especially people with no skill. I feel bad for them more then anything.
I work in advertisement, Im being laid off in may despite being the 3rd best on my team of 15 just under the team lead and assistant team lead, and the assistant team lead is out next week. Yet the last two years we've all been congratulated for record numbers. Times are weird.
Game drought. Lol what. I can't keep up. There's so many dope games releasing. I gotta ask what do you play
Not Naughty Dog games, not this gen. You know, Naughty Dog? Who the article is about?
Is this supposed to be a big gotcha after Microsoft laid off 1,900 and we're ignoring that? Let alone the over 16,000 other layoffs from Microsoft in 2023?
This is an article talking about Sony, no one said anything about Microsoft
And we should always be reminded of it like people are doing with Microsoft, Sony shouldn't get a free pass either
Yes, and this article is 100% about Sony firing people.
ND says new game is ambitious - until Sony lays off 900 more staff to save costs!
Sony publishes new gameplay video - until Sony lays off 900 more staff to save costs!
Sony announces weekend sale deals - until Sony lays off 900 more staff to save costs!
'The Last of Us' co-creator Neil Druckmann shares his experience revisiting the 'Part II' story with the upcoming remaster and how fans responded to the original's twists.
The co-director/writer of the Last of Us games is being awarded for his 20-year tenure at Naughty Dog and progressing from staff intern to co-president.
Nah. The best games from Naughty Dog come from Amy Hennig and Bruce Straley.
Amy Hennig - Uncharted Director
Bruce Straley, Amy Hennig - Uncharted 2 Director
Amy Hennig, Justin Richmond - Uncharted 3 Director
Bruce Straley, Neil Druckmann - Uncharted 4 Director
Bruce Straley, Neil Druckmann - The Last of Us Director
Neil Druckmann, Anthony Newman, Kurt Margenau - The Last of Us: Part 2
All of those games were great. And all three of them worked on three a piece, some even together. That doesn't take away from Obscures compliment or the fact Neil is getting an award for progressing up the ranks like he did. If Amy and Bruce were still there, Im sure they too would get similar awards. Maybe they did before they left...? I'll bet you they show up to watch him receive it though. They are all still friends.
Uncharted 4 - my least favourite uncharted.
The last of us - best game from naughtydog some would say.
The last of us part 2 - by far naughtydogs worst game ever made...Maybe uncharted 3 takes that one though.
Their next game will really tell me whether naughtydog is worth any of my attention anymore.
The last of us 2 also had haley Gross iirc. And does it matter lol...all of them were/are with naughty dog. They all did their best.
Not true at all. Amy had nothing to do with uncharted 4, the last of us and the last of us 2. That's 3 of naughty dogs best games. Go ahead and try to rewrite history if you like, but facts don't support your statement. The last of us is Neils baby. It is sonys most important IP. uncharted or any other sony owned IP haven't translated nearly as well as the last of us has to other media venues. People like to trash t.l.o.u. 2 but the fact is it won more game awards than any other game, until elden ring recently bested it.
Whilst I like all of these games, I personally prefer the games that Druckman was involved with. Uncharted 4 and The Last of Us are two my favourite games of all time and The Last of Us Part 2 is a game I am a big fan of to.
Uncharted are all amazing.. somehow I enjoy them more on my second playthrough.
U3 has a mention because I was enjoying it in 3D it was really good
oh please
this man has done well to push agendas and ruin franchises but go ahead and praise him. as the head of ND they have yet to make any impact on current gen
Lol devan is a new account.
Oooh someone doesn't agree with my outlook, they must be a BIGOT! 😂 alphabet mafia final boss
@Devan
The agenda where freedom of thought is looked down upon and follows whatever the mainstream media gets behind.
The real bigots are those that cant accept other viewpoints and leave well enough alone...Instead they are compelled to destroy individuals for wrongthink while claiming superior moral ground of which they have none. Especially considering that if Ellie was 14 in the last of us part 1 then she may have been 12 in Left Behind. This means Neil druckman sexualized a 12 year old...not even a teenager yet or barely one. Its utterly disgusting.
He ain't no gaming legend. But then again I ain't no fan of LOU part 2
When I think of gaming legends, I think of people like Shigeru Miyamoto or Hideo Kojima, not a guy who made an unnecessary sequel and divided the fanbase because of controversial decisions.
Nah. He barely had anything to do with any of naughty dog successes. If you read up on what he wanted from the Last of Us part 1 you would see how awful it would have been...hence the enormous divide in fans with the last of us part 2.
@devan
Dude...you mean ps5? Now you're playing the console fanboy card? If youre going to claim such nonsense at least look through my history. Youre only showing how full of it you are. Grasping at straws boy.
Look if youre into 12 year old girls kissing and exploring 12 year old sexuality thats your thing and neils.
His original pitch before Bruce Straley sounded awful
https://www.thegamer.com/in...
Then you had TLOU initial pitch where Joel did something bad to Tess in the past which made her hunt him down with her small army across America before beating the shit out of him in the end. A story that sounds a lot like TLOU2 with Abby getting revenge on Joel with her friends and a story that Bruce rejected because he said it was unbelievable someone in that harsh world would hang onto for revenge for so long and could actually manage to get people to follow her on this personal vendetta.
People don't want to admit it but Bruce had a LOT to do with the first games success, Neil himself has said it into Reddit AMAs and the like how involved Bruce was with the game and story.
@ Foxtrot
It is absolutely awful and most placed were giving him the boot.
Bruce was the only reason we came to love The Last of Us. Most are just not reading up on it themselves. Neil has only ever gotten in the way of good storytelling...hence now that he's in charge we get the massively divisive story of tlou2
Heck you can even see in my comment right now being split 10/10 which makes my comment true...funny.
Tell me you know nothing about naughty dog games without telling me you know nothing about naughty dog games.
Oh my
*The Andrew Yoon Legend Award recognizes those who have propelled the gaming world forward, celebrating their profound impact on an industry that continues to captivate and connect people worldwide.
Revenge is bad, ok. Mutilate the character in front of the audience's eyes with a golf club and forgive'em in the last act because we must learn to forgive or learn it's an endless cycle of Naruto hate if with don't forgive this person.
"Runs away from this discussion because it'll only go one way, ./bows out"
I never will understand the standpoint that joel was safe from any and all horrors just because he was the protagonist of the first game. It's not about forgiveness. It's purely about the cycle. What the people who hate 2 want has been done a million times before.
I'll never understand that standpoint either...seeing as nobody is taking that standpoint...any other standpoints you want to project?
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As opposed to character A gets killed by character B, character C takes revenge and kills character B at the end? How many times has that generic revenge template been used? At least 99%?
It always bewilders me that people have no problem with completely cookiecutter and generic story direction, but the minute someone tries to do something different everyone turns into the most snobby critic from Britain.
This is a nonsensical award anyway. I worked with Yoon back at Joystiq in the mid 00s - he was just some guy. A minor videogame journalist who made one game and then died in a tragic accident.
The award was literally created by a friend/partner of his to keep his legacy alive, but he really didn't have a legacy and definitely wasn't a major contributor to the videogame world. No more than any editor / writer on IGN or something.
The only person who cares about this award is Yoon's friend. Definitely not something the people getting it particularly care about, since why would they? It's like me giving out the 'StarcrossedBits' award to Miyamoto.
If something happened to you and there was an award dedicated to you, I'd be more than happy to receive it bro <3 :(
I really enjoyed Last of Us 2, but I remember reading an interview with him where he wants to push diverse characters in a way that seems disingenuous and almost aggressive for the sake of brownie points and that doesn’t really sit well with me.
I felt The Last of Us 2 was handled fine with that, but I can see this guy getting way overzealous to the point it becomes too in your face.
Without balance you almost become the very thing you’re trying to champion against.
Watch out for the bigot sandwich thrown your way. lol
We all know that people were using the word bigot all of the time in the past...wait...no thats just recently.
Expecting balance from neil is like expecting balance from todays society.
I dont see it as an issue if he wants to push diverse characters. Just as long as it doesn't feel forced. And some scenes though didn't sit right with me. Like that sex scene for eg. It just didnt make sense. All in all though truly an experience.
I think it made sense. They weren’t ever truly over each other. Love can be messy like that. That was actually a realistic portrayal of how people have broken up, but still want each when one of them is involved with another.
"Like that sex scene for eg"
Abby pretty much forced herself on a very drunk Owen and took advantage
If it was the other way round it would have been called out.
As someone part of the LGBT+ community I didn't get or like the way they did Lev in TLOU2, they had someone so far into this post apocalyptic setting, brainwashed by a cult with no knowledge of the old world yet they still tried to do some sort of trans storyline like our real world views still applied. How could Lev so far into this cult and new world do what a typical trans kid would do today by cutting their hair, going by he/him pronouns, changing their name and the like when it took us in the real world so long to get to that point in our modern stable society. I'm sure people in the games Universe would be more worried about surviving each day than worrying if they were trans or hell even what trans was since again there's no knowledge of the old world and Lev grew up in an old fashioned like cult. Just seemed like the wrong kind of game to do it in, fair enough if it was someone older at Joels age who grew up in the old world but a young kid?
I just think it felt forced and honestly Lev wasn't done well at all. It came across like he cut his hair and changed his name/pronouns because he saw his sister got to become a warrior while he was chosen to be a child bride for this creepy old guy and he didn't want that. So to be with his sister he cut his hair thinking it would get him out of it, so he'd become a warrior like his sister but it actually put a target on his back instead. That's how it came off because of the writing. Once he got away he kept the name and new identity to remove himself from his old life and trauma.
Even Ellie with the whole bigot sandwich thing, why would Seth be a homophobic ass hole to her in this little community who are trying to survive together? I think 25 years into a devastating world wide catastrophe would have washed those old minded views right out of anyones system because at the end of the day it's all about surviving, not what sexuality they are or race, so why be sudden homophobic prick drunk or not.
As far as Lev's part, i have no idea how or what they feel. maybe you're right.
But with regards to Seth, the whole dance floor saw Ellie and Dina kissed.
And trust me when i say this..but there are people who when they see 2 people of the same gender kiss. It gets on their nerves. Its happened like that, it's happening now. And no matter how any years it takes in the apocalypse it'll still go on. Hence the bigot sandwich thing.
"Its happened like that, it's happening now. And no matter how any years it takes in the apocalypse it'll still go on"
Will it though? Even if you are a closed minded person 20 odd years into the future where you've managed to survive harsh conditions you've now fortunately found a haven, a community where you feel safe, would you really be that bothered about two people of the same gender kissing still? I think most people would just be glad they have someone safe to live and live their lives.
Also its Ellie, Joels "daughter", Joel as in the brother of Tommy who runs the place with his wife...why risk any trouble.
He's too busy blowing his load all over Hollywood to give a shit
He just knows if he leaves a full on stable high end job at ND to pursue his dream in writing it's a risky business, you're not guaranteed jobs and a steady income (look at the recent strikes for example)
I saw this on the Reddit AMA, shocking to know he wanted to kill off one of the most loved UC characters.
I recommend everyone to read the Reddit AMA with Neil Druckmann and Bruce Straley, those guys are so awesome, very down to earth and genuine. This industry needs more devs like ND. http://www.reddit.com/r/IAm...
if they did that will be better for me i would like more violence in uncharted liked it in the last of us
but as you see he will upset the casual players who want happy endings and the fans of Elena so he save himself a lot of deep shit anyway i hope the next uncharted be in more darker tone and the one who was talking is the Nathan but older due a dark events that will be epic
Neil Druckmann is good writer, but was he involved in Uncharted 3?
WHAAAT...WHAAAAAT...WHAAAAAAT! !! soo happy he didnt do it
It's a good thing! That end moment when they escaped from Shangrila when the bomb went off and Elena took the brunt of it I thought she was written to die...
Seriously, I love Neil's Dark tones, but those characters are so well written the impact on the game would be too tremendous to undo! The Dynamics between Drake and Elena are tight. A death like that would definitely affect the series negatively!