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The Last Of Us Part 2 Dev Crunch Culture Unearthed In New Report

The Last of Us Part 2 developer Naughty Dog has come under a lot of scrutiny this week, after a new report on Kotaku has shined the light on crunch culture within the Sony-owned studio.

The Last Of Us Part 2 Report Reveals Worrying Crunch Culture

Jason Schreier was able to compile a report based on interviews current and former anonymous employees at Naughty Dog, revealing that overtime and unhealthy working hours still remain an issue at the studio, which has worked on major Sony IPs including Jak & Daxter and Uncharted.

Reportedly, production of Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End and Uncharted: The Lost Legacy further exacerbated these issues.

Here’s some quotes from both a current and former Naughty Dog employee:

This can’t be something that’s continuing over and over for each game, because it is unsustainable. At a certain point you realize, ‘I can’t keep doing this. I’m getting older. I can’t stay and work all night.

They do try to take care of you, providing food, encouragement to go take breaks. But for the most part, the implication is: ‘Get the job done at all costs.

Another developer added:

There’s a lot of pushing your current workload aside to meet these real-time demands that come across your desk. Do this thing you weren’t planning for, that other thing you weren’t planning for, plus what you were planning for.

And finally, a former member of Naughty Dog described how you feel ‘obligated’ to stay late:

You feel obligated to be there later, because everyone else is there later. If an animation needed to be put in and you weren’t there to help the animator, you’re now blocking the animator, and they may give you grief. It may not even be spoken—it may just be a look. ‘Man, you totally screwed me last night by not being here at 11 p.m.

The Last of Us: Part 2 is scheduled for release exclusively on PS4 on May 29.