Former Naughty Dog Dev Recalls Crunch Culture for Games Like The Last of Us and Uncharted
Former Naughty Dog designer Benson Russell has opened up about the harsh realities of the studio, explaining how the developer eventually began to believe workplace crunch was necessary to make games like The Last of Us at its highest "level." After leaving the Sony studio in 2015 following eight years on projects including Uncharted, Russell detailed his experiences in a recent interview with Kiwi Talkz. He revealed that while leadership attempted to implement guidelines early in the 2010s, such as ending work past midnight, those rules were ignored when deadlines loomed. Ultimately, the studio admitted that crunch was an unavoidable requirement for their specific quality standards.
The Shift from Mitigation to Acceptance
Russell described a clear evolution in how Naughty Dog handled overtime demands. Initially, meetings focused on strategies to mitigate crunch and improve conditions. However, this changed after The Last of Us shipped, leading to a stark admission from leadership that the intense work schedule was simply "what it takes" for their output.
"And eventually it was just an admission in the meeting. It was like, 'Well, we've just come to realize this is what it takes to make games at our level... We'll write you a great letter of recommendation.'"
The studio framed the situation as a choice: employees could either accept the culture or leave with a good reference. Russell noted that while they weren't technically breaking laws, the pressure was applied through incentives like bonuses, making it difficult for staff to refuse extra hours without financial penalty.
A Culture of Escalating Hours
The retention issues at Naughty Dog became increasingly visible as time went on. Russell recalled that some employees left during the development of Uncharted 4, but the exodus accelerated around the time of The Last of Us Part 2. His own departure in 2015 placed him in the group that saw the initial rise in crunch, which included:
- Long workdays extending well past standard hours.
- Mandatory weekend work totaling "multiple months of seven-day weeks."
- Daily shifts lasting between 12-to-14 hours.
- The complete abandonment of flexible hour policies during production spikes.
Russell explained that while the studio had "core hours" designed for overlap, these became irrelevant once crunch mode was activated. On The Last of Us, he eventually had to drastically reduce his own overtime, though he still ramped up significantly over the project's final year and a half.
Current Speculation on Future Projects
Despite the dark history discussed by Russell, Naughty Dog continues to generate massive headlines as players await its upcoming sci-fi adventure, Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet. Reports from Bloomberg indicate that Sony has already required employees at the studio to work a minimum of eight extra hours per week to meet internal deadlines for this title.
The conversation around the studio's future projects shows no signs of slowing down either. Rumors regarding a potential The Last of Us Part 3 began swirling following recent teasers, while other team posts have led fans to speculate about an Uncharted 5. As development on these highly anticipated titles continues, the legacy of Russell's warnings regarding the cost of production remains a significant topic for the industry.
