It's been well documented that some key figures have left Naughty Dog in the last few weeks, with notable employees such as Amy Hennig departing for fresh challenges elsewhere.
One way of looking at the recent departures would be to speculate that there's something going on over at the Uncharted and The Last of Us studio. The other way to look at it would be to listen to Sony Asia Region Marketing Manager Naito Arata (and translated by Dualshockers), who has explained that the recent ins and outs at Naughty Dog are simply par for the course.
"Lately developers leaving Naughty Dog have made the news often. In this the gaming industry and the movie industry in hollywood are the same. People move with every project, and this kind of movement is a daily occurrence."
"After shipping a successful project like The Last of Us, developers will be in high demand and will be offered better salary.
"I feel that the great thing about Naughty Dog is that they managed to keep their DNA and produce top quality products for 30 years in an industry where the exchange of top talent is this intense. You could say that all the staff shares the same "height of the hurdle"
"It's also because of the organization is structured like a small Japanese factory in the good old days... (or at least I think so, because I never worked in a small Japanese factory in the good old days, lol)"