430°

Naughty Dog’s Next Game Is “Really Ambitious” And Will Be “Really Hard” To Create

Speaking on what’s coming next for Naughty Dog, which could be either their new IP or The Last Of Us Part III, Druckmann gave what he seems to feel are realities of the project he’s talking about. That it’ll both be “really ambitious” but also “really hard.”

H984d ago

"I’ve really surrendered to knowing it’s going to be really hard, knowing it’s going to stress members of the team out"
As if crunch wasn't stressing them enough

helicoptergirl84d ago

Members of the team don't have to crunch anymore

helicoptergirl84d ago

According to people who work there

H984d ago

So the people who remained in a studio that had tons of workers quiting and others laid off said that they don't have to crunch, and you are just believing that

frostypants84d ago (Edited 84d ago )

They absolutely will wind up having to crunch. Happens at the end of almost every software project development cycle, especially with release date pressures. It's part of the job. Obviously they aren't in a crunch when they aren't in that late phase. But it's wishful thinking if they think they won't see that stress again. Druckmann himself seems to be aware of that.

helicoptergirl84d ago (Edited 84d ago )

Yes I believe them. The people who want to crunch can do it. The people who mentally and physically can't, don't actually have to. Some have young babies at home. Things have changed since the Schreier report.

rlow183d ago (Edited 83d ago )

@helicoptergirl
It wishful thinking to think some workers can choose to crunch or not to do so. That’s akin to people you work with saying they don’t have to do work they don’t like and you’re the one that has to take up the slack. That’s not how things work. Especially if your the person assigned to a specific task that has to be completed for the development to move forward. It’s a team sport when it comes to making a game. As with most things in life. Now that they are a smaller group, it’s even more important for everyone to pull their weight. Peace

helicoptergirl83d ago

@rlow that was exactly the mentality before the exposure and it was talked about and reported on. It's different now. You know, sometimes things and attitudes just change for the better. They knew they needed to change and they have and they're not stopping trying to make the creative environment as good as it can be.

+ Show (4) more repliesLast reply 83d ago
Tristan198284d ago

When someone pays another person to do a specific job in exchange for a certain rate of pay, it's called work.

H984d ago

They didn't sign to crunch and neither were they paid for it, people were hospitalized in Naughty Dog

MatrixxGT84d ago (Edited 84d ago )

Exactly most of these people wouldn’t last a season in the trades.

-Foxtrot84d ago

I f******* love how many people are doing a complete 180 on their views of crunch culture despite the awful stories reported on over the many years just because we’re talking about NaughtyDog

You can’t just cherry pick what to be mad about

“They signed a contract…it’s called work…that’s life…it’s a job”

I mean really guys, if this was EA you’d be having a field day

I bet you any money if any of these guys regardless of studio went in and said to their superior “Listen, don’t feel like the over time tonight, I’ll just stick to my normal contracted hours if that’s alright” I highly doubt they’d be given a warm response

Crows9084d ago

@h9

Actually yes they did. If overtime is mentioned...that's crunch.

Christopher84d ago

@Tristan1982: The problem is crunch is because of the inefficient management and sudden changes in projects. ND made major story changes based on some feedback, that results in months of rework, redesign, etc. And none of those changes were built into the project from the get-go, so they still have to meet a deadline.

@H9: One person. And they did sign up for crunch, ND is notorious for hiring people who don't mind it. That's the problem, they tell you who they are, people just aren't listening. And, they did get paid, just their QA level of people are paid shit, which is an industry issue for something so freaking important. And people wonder why we have such broken games at launch. Because companies don't want to pay to deliver as long as people will buy enough to get them past first few months of patches and then re-release a major patch with an expansion to get people to come back.

@-Foxtrot " You can’t just cherry pick what to be mad about " -- N4G home of 'hold my beer' on that alone.

CantThinkOfAUsername84d ago

The kindda guy to guilt trip others into overwork or tell them to be better slaves ('employees'). Exactly what corps like. How does it taste?

+ Show (4) more repliesLast reply 84d ago
anast84d ago

They get paid and they signed the contract. It's not a slave factory.

Shane Kim84d ago

Shh... your in the era of feeling sorry for people.

jwillj2k484d ago (Edited 84d ago )

Assuming you have a job, how would you feel working 80 hours a week for the same pay? You’ve not experienced crunch otherwise you wouldn’t be speaking like this.

senorfartcushion84d ago

As somebody who has crunched before. No, it wasn't my choice, no, you couldn't handle it, and no, you don't work in a better industry than I do.

Markusb3383d ago

exactly, get the game out before PS6 and if it takes crunch, or over time which you get paid for, get on with it

anast83d ago

"Assuming you have a job"

Assuming I haven't worked more for less, I suppose. And yes, I do.

"Shh... your in the era of feeling sorry for people."

I feel awful for the people that fought for the workers and got stuck holding the bag and lost everything.

"no, you couldn't handle it, "

You mean "I"

+ Show (2) more repliesLast reply 83d ago
Christopher84d ago

I really hope this isn't management BS stress. I get wanting to put the best out, finding the best new ways and concepts, and ensuring your design is just top notch and not wasteful and fulfilling, but when I hear some manager talking about this my first thought is "Are these jerks changing paradigms on a regular basis that's making people play catch up and redo work to meet their new goals?"

83d ago
Kiryu199283d ago

They lost so many great experienced talented people over the past 5 years

anast83d ago

Burnout is real. I even had to change my job because of it.

Markusb3383d ago

as if you dont get paid for crunch, get on with it,

+ Show (3) more repliesLast reply 83d ago
Stuart575684d ago

That it’ll both be “really ambitious” but also “really hard.”

Not 'is' but 'will be', kinda suggests that they haven't started yet, hope not.

Come on ND, a game PLEAAAAASSSSEEEE. Desperate this gen.

S2Killinit84d ago (Edited 84d ago )

From the article:

“Working on this new game, it’s really ambitious, parts of it are really hard,…”

That is the actual quote. They are already working on it.

LucasRuinedChildhood84d ago (Edited 84d ago )

Yeah, a lot of people push fake narratives about NaughtyDog and misquote things. That quote is very straightforward.

https://twitter.com/MitchyD...
Above is the complete debunking of a false story that still gets spread around all the time. And the bad faith actors doing it also only pin it on Druckmann for some reason and ignore Straley. They want to portray Druckmann as an evil schemer, even when the false story they're spreading doesn't align with their narrative. They don't care about reality ...

SuckerPunch doesn't get even 1% of this criticism and they haven't provided any update whatsoever on their next game, and it's a sequel not a new IP, so turnaround would be quicker. That's not logical.

Markusb3383d ago

probably 7 years out at this point after wasting all that time on factions

Stuart575684d ago

Also, just off-topic slightly but..

Does anyone think that layoffs now may well be making space for AI integration of game development, and 'crunch-time', 'unsustainable', 'big budget' are all terms been used to butter us up to receiving the news that AI integration will help and maintain the level of AAA games that were accustomed to? Perhaps the layoffs were the devs that didn't join a union quick enough and if only they had the smarts of SAG members and strike while the time is right, before its too late?! Imagine DEV's on strike at a time like this, there's already a game drought.

isarai84d ago

Nah, quite literally every industry around is having layoffs.

shinoff218383d ago

I work in manufacturing. Layoffs here to. Especially people with no skill. I feel bad for them more then anything.

isarai83d ago (Edited 83d ago )

I work in advertisement, Im being laid off in may despite being the 3rd best on my team of 15 just under the team lead and assistant team lead, and the assistant team lead is out next week. Yet the last two years we've all been congratulated for record numbers. Times are weird.

shinoff218383d ago

Game drought. Lol what. I can't keep up. There's so many dope games releasing. I gotta ask what do you play

Stuart575683d ago

Not Naughty Dog games, not this gen. You know, Naughty Dog? Who the article is about?

+ Show (2) more repliesLast reply 83d ago
Brazz84d ago

I hope they remember to make it realy fun to play.

FunAndGun83d ago

I hope it's extra woke and really fun to play.

Kneetos84d ago

And then Sony will lay off 900 more staff to save costs

Christopher84d ago

Is this supposed to be a big gotcha after Microsoft laid off 1,900 and we're ignoring that? Let alone the over 16,000 other layoffs from Microsoft in 2023?

Kneetos84d ago

This is an article talking about Sony, no one said anything about Microsoft

And we should always be reminded of it like people are doing with Microsoft, Sony shouldn't get a free pass either

Christopher84d ago (Edited 84d ago )

Yes, and this article is 100% about Sony firing people.

ND says new game is ambitious - until Sony lays off 900 more staff to save costs!
Sony publishes new gameplay video - until Sony lays off 900 more staff to save costs!
Sony announces weekend sale deals - until Sony lays off 900 more staff to save costs!

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190°

Resident Evil Zero and Code Veronica Remakes are reportedly in the works, not Resident Evil 1

Industry insider Dusk Golem reveals that there is no Resident Evil 1 Remake in the works. Instead, Capcom are reportedly in active development of Resident Evil Zero and Code Veronica.

-Foxtrot1d 9h ago

RE Zero would be better to do first over RE1 because they can tie the story into RE1 more.

The original RE Remake was weird because Rebecca never mentioned anything about what happened in Zero and it felt so disjointed because Zero was developed during the Remake and they clearly didn't share any notes with one another.

Cacabunga8h ago

Wise decision. 2 of my favorites!

Knightofelemia1d 7h ago

Give me Dino Crisis dammit Capcom

TGG_overlord13h ago

And all it took was +24 years + a phone call from me lol.

GotGame8185h ago

LOL! A phone call from you? ROFL! They have been remaking RE games for YEARS! It was a matter of time!

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30°

Frostpunk 2 Director Łukasz Juszczyk Discusses Game Balance, Politics, and Beta Feedback

TechRaptor writes, "After getting our hands on the Frostpunk 2 story, we got to sit down with Łukasz Juszczyk to talk about how the game evolved from the original."

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280°

Metal: Hellsinger dev says he is against Game Pass after seeing how it affects sales

Founder of Metal: Hellsinger studio says he wasn't against Game Pass until their game launched on Microsoft's service, which affected game sales.

TheProfessional18h ago(Edited 18h ago)

Why did PS copy gamepass if it's so terrible and unprofitable? PS Now was before gamepass but it was streaming trash that no one had any interest in.

And honestly the way the industry releases overpriced and broken games with day one season passes and dlc who wouldn't want to just pay for a subscription instead of $70 per game?

Only biased PS fans would defend paying more to a corporation rather than an option that's cheaper for the consumer overall. If it's from an indie studio that needs the sales that's different but games published by larger companies are fine on a subscription model. Also any of these devs who complain did decide to put their games on gamepass in thr first place.

ocelot0716h ago

Ahhh yes the typical but but but Sony in a Microsoft article.

When did Sony copy Microsoft? I havent seen Sony's big day one titles such as God of war Ragnarok or GT7? Do you want to know why they are not on the service? Because people are still willing to PAY for the games. Sony has already admitted they lost millions putting Horizon Forbidden West and Ratchet & Clank on PS+ Extra.

"larger companies are fine on a subscription model" Oh really? So why is all the cod games yet to be on it? Where is elden ring? Resident Evil 4 Remake? Street Fighter 6? Boulders Gate 3? Alan Wake 2? Where are they of gamepass is great and big publishers are fine putting newer games on it?

I'll tell you where they are. They are currently still selling for their respected publisher's. You know actually making them money. That money they can use to fund the next project.

who wouldn't want to just pay for a subscription instead of $70 per game?

I'm one of the millions who much rather pay $70 so fully support the publisher. Why do we do this? Well for starters I rather just pay for it rather than keep renting it each month. If we all just kept renting years ago blockbuster would still be around. Secondly, I rather we have AAA titles in 10 years time to enjoy. Rather than play mobile quality crap from a subscription.

Tell me how this is a good thing for gaming going forward. The last time I subbed to Gamepass was October 2023. During that one month subscription I played the newly released Starfield, Forza and a few other titles. All for the cost of about $7. Since then Microsoft have not released anything I want to try out or put anything on GP I want to try. So they last made $7 from me 8 months ago.

In the last 3 months. I have bought Sea of Thieves on PS5 (earning MS more money on that than my 1 month subscription to gamepass). Resident Evil 4 for £20 and Diablo 4 for £25 (again earning MS more buying this than buying a sub). Tell me how it's best for gaming I pay $7 and play the latest and greatest for a month. Rather than just buying what I want even if it means waiting a few months and getting it cheaper than full price yet earning the publisher more than renting said games of a monthly sub.

darthv729h ago

...but didn't this game leave GP and then join PS+?

If a sub service is so bad, why get into another one right away?

Cacabunga8h ago(Edited 8h ago)

Finally devs waking up! More will follow .. reminds me of capcom during PS3,360 era almost going bankrupt they released extremely poor games because Xbox gave them paychecks not to release them on PS3 for as period. Sales were terrible and they went away from that.

Hofstaderman16h ago

Sony has never released new titles day one. They experimented with Forbidden West which was fairly new and quickly discovered that it cannabalized sales. XBOX gamepass was always an act of desperation to remain relevant and in their desperation they effectively dug their grave where today everybody is biding their time for their formerly exclusive titles. In a nutshell GamePass made XBOX not relevant.

Plague-Doctor279h ago

It wasn't desperation. Subscription Models had a very different outlook in 2017 and then with the gaming surge during COVID reaching critical mass seemed more and more possible.

Phil convinced Satya to chase a trend and it hasn't worked out

shinoff21834h ago(Edited 4h ago)

Pretty much. People can say what they want but Ms said it themselves with the court papers. It was definitely desperation. Xbox was getting it handed to them. They were desperate.

lellkay15h ago

Literally dev who put game on gamepass:
It's not good

TheProfessional: but but sony but sony

S2Killinit14h ago(Edited 14h ago)

Sony didnt copy MS. MS copied Sony, then MS went on to make xbox a subscription device. Remember that part? Yeah.

MrNinosan14h ago

You're not too bright, right?

First of all, Sony didn't copy Microsoft regarding PS+ and GamePass, which you admit to early in your comment, but with some faults. PSNow was not only streaming.
The mentality at Xbox gamers, is to NOT buy games, because they are used to get it on GamePass, preferbly day 1 like with all Xbox Studios games.

This is not a thing at PS+ and never was.
Sure there was plenty day 1 games on PS+ like, Rocket League, Stray, Sea of Stars, Tchia, Operation Tango etc, but those didn't take away from gamers that it was more like a "bonus" than a "thing".

Playstation gamers buy games, a lot of games and PS+ has been proving to be way better for business than GamePass, both by actually having more subscribers but also no eating up sales.

dveio14h ago(Edited 14h ago)

"Only biased PS fans would defend paying more to a corporation rather than an option that's cheaper for the consumer overall.“

How can you possibly come to this conclusion?

First, you pay for a subscription.

Then download games. But games will eventually leave the service. You will again need to buy them if you want to play them ever again. Or if you cancel your subscription. Right?

Eventhough this may NOT have an effect on every subscriber, this IS in fact the economical motiviation behind the service like GP.

If you are not already paying "double" this way, you pay at a 1.2 or maybe even at a 1.5 ratio eventually than opposed to simply buying the game in the first place.

As I said, this maybe doesn't apply to every subscriber. But this doesn't erase the fact of this business model existing. And possibly keep growing.

It's driving me nuts at times that especially the die hard Xboxers seem not to understand what they are actually cheering for foolishly.

The Wood13h ago

xbots always tryna group...

..they'll never understand or refuse to acknowledge why these two console brands are miles apart. Gamespass isn't the golden egg some would have you believe. Its hit its peak and is nowhere near the demanded target of subs by the purse holders

The Wood12h ago(Edited 12h ago)

xbots always tryna group...

..they'll never understand or refuse to acknowledge why these two console brands are miles apart. Gamespass isn't the golden egg some would have you believe. Its hit its peak and is nowhere near the demanded target of subs by the purse holders. on top of that it seems more devs on top of the devs that have shunned the service are not seeing the value of subs vs actual sales. Sell first, sub later works better than sub off the bat. MSGaming has a major sea change decision to make regarding COD. Do they release it dod and lose a high portion of up front revenue or either up the price of gp on the whole or create an even higher sub tier to cushion the blow or don't release it on gp at all and potentially damage the good will gesture reiterated not too long ago. The acquisition money wasn't free money....they'll have to pick their poison

anast11h ago

"Why did PS copy gamepass if it's so terrible and unprofitable?"

They didn't copy GP. They aren't dumb enough to put their exclusives day 1.

"Who wouldn't want to just pay for a subscription instead of $70 per game?"

People who don't like to rent things.

outsider16249h ago

It's funny when he says who wouldn't pay for a subscription instead of paying 70$. Well no shit...if MS keeps releasing average titles who wouldnt..🤣

Cockney7h ago(Edited 7h ago)

The reason is playstation didn't copy anybody and they don't release broken games, their games are still not day 1 and Ps players still buy games so ps+ is just an option for those that want a subscription service, the fact playstation doesn’t push it front and centre should tell you a lot.
On xbox gamepass IS front and centre with an option to buy games on the side, look how that is panning out for them!
Xbox fans are the only ones trumpeting this from the rooftops

shinoff21836h ago

Weren't we able to download ps3 on ps3 and ps4 on ps4 systems back then I really don't remember.

Truth is Ms still copied Sony and made a couple adjustments. One adjustment being day one games which clearly has been xboxs issue hence the ps5 releases, and they groomed the base to not buy games.

romulus235h ago

To be fair it takes it's own level of bias to not see the harm day one game pass is doing to xbox and the industry as a whole. Harm that xbox themselves have admitted to.

ChasterMies4h ago(Edited 4h ago)

“Why did PS copy gamepass”

This is a long story that spans decades. Sony subscription services for games (PS+ and PS Now) before Microsoft. Sony and Microsoft weren’t the only ones. We’ve seen OnLive die, Google’s Stadia die, and disc rental services die. What made Game Pass successful is the amount of money Microsoft is able to lose. Everyone expected Sony to offer a one-to-one Game Pass competitor and they did. To actually make money, Somy sells its own games for at least a year before relegating them to PS+. Sony also has scale. More PS5s sold means more users which means more money. Will these subscription services last? Probably not. Few things do.

Flewid6381h ago

As a huge fan of PS Premium, I don't recall a single AAA game launching on it. Even a AA game.

Everything I've found on PS Premium has already been out for sometime. Better selection too. There are games I trialed that I said "yup, I'm buying".

+ Show (12) more repliesLast reply 1h ago
Skuletor17h ago

I feel no sympathy for the guy, it doesn't take a genius to figure out that putting your game on gamepass would affect sales.

JEECE11h ago

Seriously, how is it that devs need one of their games to bomb in sales due to Gamepass for them to realize what so many people could easily predict? Like people joke about "armchair CEOs" on here, but at least with respect to the effect of Gamepass, we keep seeing that the armchair CEOs are actually smarter than the real heads of these indie studios.

Skuletor4h ago

Probably short-sightedness when he saw that initial Microsoft check, temporarily made all reason jump out the window 🤑

shinoff21834h ago

In some of the devs defense they know the game won't sell. So why not take the gamepass check. Hopefully yaluza/like a dragon sell decent on Xbox. I'd like to keep this series around.

dveio15h ago(Edited 15h ago)

The 'day-one' feature is the breaker or maker with GP, business-wise.

GP is no Netflix.

Because, from all the Marvel's Avengers to Sicarios, illustratively speaking, they all had their box office money. Before they had entered Netflix.

This concept shows you what Microsoft have actually put themselves into.

And what situation studios put themselves into if they go day-one into GP.

solideagle10h ago

GP/PS Extra day one is best suited for GAAS or free to play games

truthBombs15h ago

Why not sell your game the traditional way first? Then after about 6 months to a year put it on a sub service.

Day one on gamepass is a gamble. It works for some (Pal world) and not for others.

anast11h ago

It's the old psych. experiment. Set out some candy and tell the person they can have it all now, or if they wait, they can have double the amount. Most choose the first option, then complain when it doesn't work out for them.

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