Naughty Dog game director Neil Druckmann claim that the studio’s next game is “really ambitious”, but also stressful for the development team.
Speaking during an interview with YouTuber Logically Speaking, Naughty Dog president and game director, Neil Druckmann, shared that the studio’s next game is really ambitious. He added that parts of the game are really hard to work on. However, he said that he has surrendered to knowing that it is going to be really hard and to knowing that it is going to be stressful for members of the development team.
Despite the stressful nature of the game’s development, Druckmann stated that he wants to make it a joyful experience for himself and everybody else on the team. He recalled a moment where Kurt Margenau, co-director of The Last of Us Part 2 and director of Uncharted: The Lost Legacy, recently did something on this new game that made him proud.
Margenau had stepped up and given a “passion pitch”, and seeing him as well as others on the development team rising to the occasion and surprising him in “really beautiful” ways have given him a lot of joy. He said that mentoring his co-workers and seeing them express themselves through art has given him a sense of pride towards them.
Druckmann also mentioned that he’s entered a new phase in life, where his kids are his top priority. It has got him thinking about how many big-budget AAA games he has left in him, and he feels that there aren’t that many.
Of course, not everything at Naughty Dog has been about passion and joy. The studio has been hit with layoffs this month as well as a couple of times last year in 2023. Moreover, the multiplayer project that it had been working on for some time had also been been canceled. The development team had been in pre-production with the game since The Last of Us Part II had been in the works. In ramping up to full production, the project got bigger in terms of scope, which ultimately led to its cancellation.
