In the event you’ve been questioning why the critically acclaimed Sony studio Naughty Canine has been so mum about its present initiatives of late, the rationale seems to be that it needs to focus extra on sustaining a manageable work-life stability for its staff. Co-president Neil Druckmann, in an interview with ComicBook.com, stated that pronouncing video games too early prior to now contributed to elevated pressure on the builders.
Druckmann and Merle Dandridge (who performs Marlene in each Naughty Canine’s recreation The Final of Us and the brand new HBO adaptation) sat down with ComicBook.com to debate the brand new TV sequence. Within the transient interview, Druckmann was requested why Naughty Canine has been quiet and what the vibe across the studio has been like currently. Druckmann defined that a part of the rationale why the developer has gone radio silent is as a result of Uncharted 4 and The Final of Us Half 2 have been unveiled a bit too early, one thing Naughty Canine hopes to keep away from with no matter its subsequent undertaking is.
“We did announce Uncharted 4 and The Final of Us Half 2 approach prematurely, however that truly brought on a bit little bit of the work-life stability points that we’ve generally had on the studio,” Druckmann stated. “By delaying that announcement, we might play with the schedule extra and we’re extra acutely aware now about how we’re approaching manufacturing.”
Naughty Canine has been scrutinized prior to now for the way onerous its staff needed to crunch to get The Final of Us Half 2 out of the door. In March 2020 Kotaku reported on accounts of grueling time beyond regulation, with some builders calling the studio’s work tradition “unsustainable.” In a 2021 Recreation Informer interview, Druckmann stated there’s “nobody answer” for fixing crunch, and indicated that the studio was making an attempt to strategy the difficulty in a approach that acknowledged “all people has a singular scenario we’d want to deal with.” After the studio shipped its most up-to-date recreation, The Final of Us Half 1 (the PS5 remake of Naughty Canine’s seminal zombie recreation), a principal setting artist said on Twitter that, for the primary time in his 13-year profession, he “didn’t have to crunch to complete [this] recreation.”
Kotaku reached out to Naughty Canine and Sony for remark.
Elsewhere within the ComicBook.com interview, Druckmann talked about The Final of Us multiplayer undertaking that’s been in improvement for a minute, saying it’ll broaden the sport’s world. He additionally hinted at one other undertaking within the works, suggesting Naughty Canine is cooking up a number of video games proper now.
“We did point out there’s a The Final of Us multiplayer undertaking we’ve been engaged on for a very long time, since even earlier than The Final of Us Half 2 shipped,” Druckmann stated. “That’s essentially the most formidable undertaking we’ve ever achieved, which is increasing the world additional, persevering with to inform a narrative however in a multiplayer area. I received’t say an excessive amount of about that. So, there’s that multiplayer undertaking, there’s one other undertaking I can’t say something about that’s past that that we’re additionally very a lot excited for.”
With information that Naughty Canine is taking its time revealing video games now, it’s unclear after we’ll see this standalone The Final of Us multiplayer undertaking. Nonetheless, Druckmann has assured of us that some unveiling of this recreation will completely occur this 12 months. When is anybody’s guess, although.