The Rise of Naughty Dog - Part 1 The following is an exclusive excerpt from serial entrepreneur Morgan Ramsay's recent book release, Gamers at Work: Stories Behind the Games People Play. The book features personal conversations with 18 of the world's most successful founders of video-game companies about their earliest days to where they are now. GamesIndustry International is proud to bring you this exclusive chapter about Jason Rubin's early days as co-founder of Naughty Dog and how the studio became one of the most successful in the business. Jason Rubin and Andy Gavin cofounded Naughty Dog in 1986, becoming two of the youngest contractors to develop for Electronic Arts. During its rise from a scrappy startup to an industry powerhouse with three of the top-ten games for Sony PlayStation, Naughty Dog established a reputation as one of the most innovative developers of video games on the planet. Ramsay: When did you get started with Naughty Dog? Rubin: Andy and I met in school at around age 13. Andy Gavin Jason Rubin
A Candid Interview With Evan Wells And Christophe Balestra Naughty Dog - the legendary studio behind The Last of Us, Uncharted, Jak and Daxter, and Crash Bandicoot - has been in the headlines the last few months, but for all the wrong reasons. A reported exodus of key team members has people wondering about Naughty Dog and the future of Uncharted. Game Informer analyzes the sequence of events leading up to the present day, then sits down with company co-presidents Evan Wells and Christophe Balestra in a candid interview about the validity of the reports, the stability of the company, the future of Uncharted for the PlayStation 4, and what those changes mean for The Last of Us. The Time Line To the surprise of many, Uncharted for PlayStation 4 was teased on November 14, 2013 - the eve of the PlayStation 4 launch in North America. Flash forward to March 4, 2014, when entertainment news site IGN reported that Amy Hennig, a longtime veteran of Naughty Dog, had been "forced out" by The Last of Us leads Bruce Straley and Neil Druckmann. Did he?
Naughty Dog looks back at 20 years of PlayStation development Though Naughty Dog is celebrating its 30th anniversary, we’re also excited to have been along on PlayStation’s 20-year ride that it’s celebrating this year. In fact it was developing for the PS1 that had Naughty Dog hire its first employees – for the first ten years it was just our co-founders Jason and Andy doing all of the art, programming and design themselves. Oh, how times have changed! Developing the Crash Bandicoot games on the PS1 was an exciting time. The PlayStation didn’t have a mascot to go up against Mario or Sonic, so when Naughty Dog debuted Crash for the first time at E3 in 1996, Sony put it right up, head to head with the other gaming juggernauts. The first game was developed by just eight people (some who are still here!) During the development of CTR, Sony had shipped us some of the very first PlayStation 2 development kits to enter the United States. The promise of what the PlayStation 2′s increased horsepower would allow us to create had our minds spinning.
The Mary Sue Interview: Naughty Dog Game Designer Emilia Schatz | The Mary Sue In recent years, few game developers have pushed the envelope further than Naughty Dog has. Between their amazingly written characters and beautifully designed worlds, every game that the studio releases is an absolute must-play. I recently got a chance to talk to Emilia Schatz, one of the lead game designers at Naughty Dog, about working in games, coming out, internet harassment and pizza. David Ochart (TMS): How did you get your start in the gaming industry? Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End is due to be released sometime next year. David Ochart (pronounced Oh-Chart) is a freelance writer and social media manager.
Why Uncharted: The Lost Legacy Became A Stand-Alone Expansion When Uncharted: The Lost Legacy was unveiled at PSX late last year, fans immediately began to wonder the nature of the project. Was this supposed to be DLC content related to Uncharted 4, or was it its own stand-alone title that would release separately? Naughty Dog soon confirmed that it was the latter, with The Lost Legacy being its own entity tied to a beloved series. When the Naughty Dog team shot around ideas early on, creating a stand-alone experience wasn't an obvious approach from the start. At first, the team contemplated an Uncharted 5, but with much of the team focused on The Last of Us Part II's development, the idea was scrapped in favor of something more condensed that could release in a year's time. The team also wanted to start something fresh; with Nathan Drake's story cleanly reaching its conclusion in Uncharted 4, Naughty Dog knew this new entry would need a fresh start. Before settling on Chloe and Nadine as protagonists, the team considered other possibilities.