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Michael Knowland (Lead Character Artist) leaves Naughty Dog
- Thread starter nbnt
- Start date
fvng
Member
Wasn't She was forced out? that's not speculation. That doesn't seem amicable
Kenshin001
Member
I doubt that was the case with Hennig. It's possible with Richmond, maybe, though the timing is suspect. Shortly after Hennig left and in the middle of UC4 development.
Nate Wells went to Giant Sparrow, makers of the Unfinished Swan. I don't think they offered more money or a better pension plan.
The "forced out" part was speculation and everything after that was based on that.
Nightengale
Member
A higher position though, art director. ( his level at Irrational)
The art director position at ND is held by Pangilinan and Rupehl. The former is ND employee no.13 who's been there since the Crash era, and the latter has been at ND for 7 years after a decade at Walt Disney.
As illustrious as Wells is, he's not likely to replace any of these 2 soon.
Four people have left. The studio is around 200-250.
They also have hired a ton of new people in the past couple years.
fvng
Member
Ah, gotta love the internet
False Witness
Member
You know, I kind of wonder if Patrice Désilets will end up over there. His noncompete is almost over and he recently had gave a talk where he mentioned he was more into making interactive experiences vs. "video games" and ND certainly don't mind changing things up a bit.
Cock of War
Member
And 20+ new legends in the making.
it's just sad that there is no gaming "journalist" to dig into this and do some investigations on what is going with ND lately and why people are leaving what was supposed to be one of the best places to work in this industry.
gaming journalism situation is poor, we don't know the reasons behind most of cancelled project the firing or other behind the scene stuff.
gaming journalism situation is poor, we don't know the reasons behind most of cancelled project the firing or other behind the scene stuff.
Pretty much
BruiserBear
Banned
If she wasn't pushed out she could get on twitter at any time and immediately put an end to those rumors. She hasn't done that.
UnObtainium17
Member
Lol I don't think Neil or bruced forced him out. After making a great game, other studios gonna hunt you down.
I feel his departure is not due to some rift with other employee or something.
I feel his departure is not due to some rift with other employee or something.
Why would she entertain a bunch of people on an internet forum? She might be a bit of a "Video game celebrity" but i don't see "movie celebrities" go on twitter to refute everything that gets written about them either.
BruiserBear
Banned
Lots of people refute rumors on Twitter. Especially when friends are being attacked. It's not like typing up those 140 characters requires a lot of time and effort.
Kazuma Kiryu
Member
As far as I'm aware, no one commented on why they left ND. Are we going to say they all left in poor terms?
It really is. I've seen one hit the office. I immediately went out to shake the guy's hand.
Kenshin001
Member
At the rate people are leaving probably 6 months.
Very astute point. I interviewed a few people from the games industry for a class once, they said that it's rare to be promoted at a company because they want you doing what you have proven them your best at. Most promotions come from being hired in elsewhere In a higher position.
Chances are people are seeking higher goals.
Nightengale
Member
At this stage, it's pretty obvious that Amy left on bad terms.
Scott Rohde circled around the matter, Wells and Balestra didn't refute that statement aside from saying that it had nothing to do with Neil/Bruce, and that the blame lied on them as the studio presidents.
Forced out is a stupid term. The co presidents basically confirmed she was fired. I don't know the labor laws in CA but it is probably sticker than most others so I am sure they had a solid reason for doing it. Also she was definitely not let go on good terms so of course she is not going to refute anything. Anyway this is all silly didn't we learn anything from speculating on this kind of stuff with Mort and the Evo affair?
Most of the people who left were related to the UC4 shakeup and Amy's leaving. These remaining 2 were probably career advancement related.
Live Free or Die
Banned
Why would she respond to something that isn't true and get involved in drama on some video game forum?
Bobby_Sullivan
Neo Member
This is like watching your home slowly burn to the ground...what is going on?
Bedameister
Member
Shocking News: Developer leaves studio after game is finished.
LiquidMetal14
hide your water-based mammals
Like the "journalistic" good done by the Hennig article /sarcasm
My theory is they're tired of pumping out uncharted all the time. They want to expand their horizons and use their talents for something else but Sony wants dat guaranteed money.
I got no problem with uncharted 4 but now that the franchise has been established (gameplay, characters, story) pass it on to a new and upcoming studio and let ND work on new IP like TLOU.
I got no problem with uncharted 4 but now that the franchise has been established (gameplay, characters, story) pass it on to a new and upcoming studio and let ND work on new IP like TLOU.
Well, That was a huge fail from Mitch Dyer and IGN. we need more real journalism like the IW story (is there any good examples of gaming journalism that dig stories and discovers things publishers don't want the public to know?).
LiquidMetal14
hide your water-based mammals
Kotaku did some digging a bit ago on separate stories but I can't remember specifics.
AuthenticM
Member
I think Amy Hennig's firing had an unforeseen butterfly effect.
BlackBuzzard
Banned
Its just game journalists trying to create drama where there is none. The sooner they show Uncharted 4 the sooner this all goes away.
I am not entirely certain it was unforeseen most high profile people leaving tends to cause an exodus of others. Look at the craziness that was IW also probably the same reason Microsoft sold Bungie its independence.
BruiserBear
Banned
All the other people who have left immediately announced they were leaving to go somewhere else. Hennig was just gone one day. Weeks later she announced she was hired on by the Star Wars team.
You should ask the presidents of Naughty Dog about that. They responded to the Druckman rumors by releasing a statement.
eighty(one)
Member
If they do happen to poke around, are you seriously expecting an answer? What do you figure Sony would allow ND to say?
*rolls eyes* we aren't going to find out.
We all know what happens when journalists begin snooping:
Best to move on and wait for whatever ND delivers, game wise, before we know whether some departures affected quality or not.
Mocca-Bear
Neo Member
Look game journalism! Smoke! Go get a story and relieve some of this rumour milll mongering whatever the result may or may not be.
Omnistalgic
Member
speculation is all we have...the topic is getting a bit annoying but its either there recent success is causing them to get better offers or they just want to work in something different...
we may never know, but it'll be fun to watch everyone's reaction when the next uncharted comes and looks and plays amazing...
old manatee
Banned
I wonder how many meetings he sat through about the tuck-level of Nathan's shirt.
Prototype Viktor
Member
Naughty Dog is just playing a company wide game of Survivor and these people have been voted off the island
Can you post some links to these folks?