Nixxes has been doing PC versions of multiplatform games launching on the same date for years.
Specialized is past tense.Good to see PC ports still coming!
asking AI - "Did 70 percent of naughty dogs staff leave the studio after uncharted 4?"
Yes, reports indicated that roughly 70% of non-lead designers from the Uncharted 4 team left Naughty Dog following the game's 2016 release. This high turnover, linked to intense "crunch" culture and unsustainable work conditions, led to a surge in junior staff, though it did not mean 70% of the entire studio's staff departed.
Reddit +2
Key Details Regarding the Staff Turnover:
Note: While some official comments at the time implied turnover was not abnormal, independent reports and developer accounts highlighted that the attrition rate was exceptionally high.
- Targeted Data: According to reports corroborated by Kotaku and former employees, 14 out of 20 non-lead designers from Uncharted 4 departed before or during the development of The Last of Us Part II.
- Cause - "Crunch" Culture: The departures were largely attributed to severe, sustained overtime (crunch) that made the work environment difficult for employees.
- Impact on Talent: The exodus led to a significantly less experienced workforce, with many key roles filled by junior staff and contractors.
- Contextualization: While the 70% figure is often cited regarding the design team, some discussions suggest this was heavily driven by the end of contracts for temporary staff, combined with, but not entirely due to, burnout.
Reddit +7
Seems like you are right in your main point!
Edit - broke your quote, apologies - I input the same question as google.
Grok does a much better job of adding some clarification. Same input from me
No, 70% of Naughty Dog's overall staff did not leave after Uncharted 4 (released in 2016). The figure specifically refers to non-lead designers credited on that game: out of about 20 non-lead designers, 14 (70%) had left the studio by around 2018–2020.
This detail comes primarily from a March 2020 Kotaku report by Jason Schreier on crunch culture at Naughty Dog during The Last of Us Part II's development. It highlighted high turnover linked to intense crunch (long hours, including up to 12+ hour days and weekends) on Uncharted 4 and subsequent projects. Many veterans, including co-director Bruce Straley (who left in 2017 after feeling burnt out), departed, leading to a design team for TLOU Part II that was reportedly ~70% new to the studio. A significant number of artists also left.
Key Context and Clarifications
- Not the whole studio: Naughty Dog had hundreds of employees (estimates around 200–400+ in that era, growing to 400+ by 2023). The 70% applied narrowly to a subset of the design team, not the entire staff, leads, or other departments. One Reddit discussion even noted it equated to roughly 3–4% of total employees when viewed broadly.
- Turnover was an issue, but not unprecedented for the studio: Naughty Dog has a history of post-project attrition due to its demanding "crunch" culture (well-documented across The Last of Us, Uncharted 4, and The Lost Legacy). Studio leaders downplayed similar exits earlier (e.g., in 2014 after Amy Hennig and others left during Uncharted 4's troubled development). Industry-wide game dev turnover is often high (~15% or more annually in some reports), but Naughty Dog's was notably elevated in the design area.
- Causes: Reports pointed to burnout from extreme schedules on Uncharted 4 (described by some as the "worst crunch" they'd experienced), with the studio then relying more on less experienced hires and contractors for the next project—which reportedly worsened the cycle.
- Later developments: There were additional exits, contract non-renewals (e.g., ~25 contractors, mostly QA, in 2023), and broader PlayStation layoffs affecting Naughty Dog in 2024. However, the studio continued shipping major titles and maintained a large team.
In short, the "70%" claim is a real and often-cited statistic—but it's frequently overstated online as "70% of the studio" or "most staff" leaving en masse right after Uncharted 4. It was a serious (and department-specific) turnover rate tied to working conditions, not a near-total exodus of the entire company. Naughty Dog has faced ongoing criticism for crunch and retention issues over the years.
I love sensational percentages that are used by businesses and news sites.
Digital fortnite bundle for $399 still available if you need one.....
Ok so when you said: "Sony locking titles behind their $900 console and people are happy lmao it's insane."
1. I'm being hyperbolic, you understand
Most on Gaf got a PS1 or PS2 as kids. Makes sense there. Just emotions.
You did see how it killed Xbox right?
Biggest myth in gaming. Xbox one launch killed Xbox. They did PC ports one year after STOPPING REPORTING SALES NUMBERS.
PC ports didn't kill Xbox and you've been repeatedly debunked over this.
wait you mean Xbox who released FH5 on PS5 AND was top of the sales charts for like a month? that Hurt Xbox? mate. Your plastic box is just a vehicle for a corporation to lock you into their subscription services and screw you over with no refunds on digital purchases, inflated prices for games and hardware from half a decade ago.
It's just sad they're so attached to a company cause "mummy and daddy got me their console"
Yeah, people attach themselves to corporations, for identity. Sign of a declining society.
Yes totally killed Xbox... who were barely releasing ANY games, and no good games, for years during the downturn in console sales lol (and don't forget the absolute PR disaster that was the Xbox One launch)
Maybe not the only reason but certainly a huge contributor. Xbox One could have been turned around if the person in charge had focused on games, similar to how Sony fixed the PS3 situation.
Ding ding ding! That's the reason; a lack of good games. You'll notice the sales going in a downward spiral started years before the PC ports. Porting subpar games to PC didn't do anything to the Xbox brand.
I think people will jump on the fact that it wasn't just the one thing that did permanent damage to xbox, but it was clearly a factor. one of the other major problems with xbox also had a lot of support from these same people. a lot of people were shilling gamepass as "the best deal in gaming" - and good luck trying to explain to them how it was actually damaging the xbox brand a few years ago.
Ps5 and ps portal aren't at that price. Also that's like saying steam games are "locked" behind 1000 bucks pcs at least lmao.
Iconera is in your future, brotherWarning to all Steamhuffing Pirates,
The PlayStation Supreme Port (PSP) has revoked the PeeSea Charter. Your deportation has been scheduled.
Now all that's left is to remove the PS games from Steam and Epic and pretend like it never happened.
If it isn't clear, I'm mostly joking here.
Well, regarding PC after their recently released Death Stranding 2, the next XDEV releases on PC will be day one (Marvel Tokon, Kena 2, Convallaria, 4loop, Start Wars KOTOR remake). Same goes with non-XDEV upcoming GaaS: Horizon Hunters Gathering, Horizon Steel Frontiers (also in mobile), Fairgame$, gummy bears (also in mobile)...
One with 6 year old tech. Yup not buying one.
A few weeks/months ago somebody credible said they continue working on it. So it should ready relatively soonish.
Sony clearly dosent want to do day 1 games on pc (only gaas) , the only reason plausible for this is brand devaluation, there's no low sales justification because they simply didnt try any Day 1 game to see what happens, they have sales data from second party games like DS2 to evaluate, its not day 1 games but its not 2 years later also, and they have a lot of data from third party games split (pc vs ps) ...
