A Naughty Dog developer who worked on The Last of Us Part 1, a remake of the 2013 classic, has revealed that the game is the first title he has worked on in 13 years that didn’t involve a crunch to meet the release date.
Crunch has quite rightly been a major talking point in the gaming industry over the last few years as fans urge studios to protect the mental and physical well-being of developers making their games.
Naughty Dog was among many studios accused of promoting an unhealthy culture of overworking, especially in the lead-up to the launch of The Last of Us Part 2.
Thankfully, it appears the studio has learned its lesson, and The Last of Us Part 1 has been made from start to finish without overworking devs to meet a deadline.
The Last of Us Part 1 was made without crunch according to dev
Responding to the news that The Last of Us Part 1 had gone gold, meaning the game is mostly done and ready to be shipped, Anthony Vaccaro, Principal Environment Artist at Naughty Dog, explained that this is the first game he has worked on that didn’t involve crunch.
“This is the first time in my 13-year career, across multiple studios, that I didn’t need to crunch to finish a game. Feels good, really good,” he tweeted. “Especially hitting the same quality bar as TLOU2. More work to keep doing but proud of the big changes so far to make the studio healthier.”
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This is the first time in my 13 year career, across multiple studios that I didn't need to crunch to finish a game. Feels good, really good. Especially hitting the same quality bar as TLOU2. More work to keep doing but proud of the big changes so far to make the studio healthier. https://t.co/gbzyHKpVbh
— Anthony Vaccaro (@vaccaro3d) July 11, 2022
Despite registering huge sales figures and being critically acclaimed, the success of The Last of Us Part 2 was overshadowed slightly by reports of intense crunch. As the sequel neared its May 2020, Naughty Dog developers reportedly found themselves working long, tiring hours including weekends.
In a 2021 interview with Game Informer, Naughty Dog Co-President Neil Druckman said the studio was committed to a change but admitted it wouldn’t be easy. “We find that there is no one solution that fits everybody. Everybody has a unique situation we might need to address.”
There’s no doubt that the smaller overall scale of this latest project will have helped the studio stay crunch-free, but it’s still great to see Naughty Dog putting the health of its employees first.
The Last of Us Part 1 is set to release on September 2, 2022.