The last time Naughty Dog released a new game series was just over twelve years ago when they launched The Last of Us in 2013. But right now, they are hard at work on Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet, which was announced at The Game Awards 2024.
While the studio's previous games were immediately regarded as highly anticipated, Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet received a less enthusiastic reception, and the trailer was flooded with dislikes on YouTube. We haven't heard anything more since then, but now Bloomberg journalist Jason Schreier reports that things are starting to heat up at Naughty Dog.
According to the journalist, they are currently finalizing an internal demo to be shown to Sony Interactive Entertainment. But apparently, they are behind schedule in production, and as a result, mandatory overtime of at least eight extra hours per week has been enforced for the past seven weeks. This has obviously not gone down well with staff who want to spend time with their loved ones over Thanksgiving and Christmas preparations, and this has led to "some staff wondering: If they're crunching now, what will next year be like".
Naughty Dog has previously received a lot of criticism for its rock-hard crunch culture, with employees complaining that they have not been able to leave work at the end of the day, as well as poor health and strained relationships. According to Schreier, Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet is set to be released in 2027, and it remains to be seen whether crunch overtime will once again be introduced to meet its deadline.
https://bsky.app/profile/jasonschreier.bsky.social/post/3mabvjd7qvs2v
