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[LTWood12]

600 people have left my company this year (so far), and others have been hired, what do you consider standard turnover?

You seem pretty hell bent on convincing people that there's absolutely no correlation to any of this. Do you know something?

 

[Timeaisis]

Something stinks.

 

[BloodMoney]

TLoU team is still intact, so... consider me un-concerned. Uncharted would do well to be a bit more "adult" IMO.

 

[Neifirst]

They were also responsible for a lot of what was good about Uncharted 2, especially Amy Hennig. It's not like they came out of nowhere when UC3 development started.

Sure, it just appears that perhaps the powers that be didn't like the direction the U4 project was going in and implemented an overhaul before it was too far gone.

I'm in the minority that like the first Uncharted best so what do I know?!

 

[Big_Al]

Not sure, after 1.05 I stopped playing within a couple of weeks, and I was never big on the sniper rifles. I was a run and gun player so the reduction in health completely ruined my play style.
But yes, it was amazing. I pumped over 130 hours within 3 months into UC2.

Same here, they completely fucked having a good gunfight in 2 where you could outmaneouvre each other, clamber up walls to get away etc I loved that game and they ruined it.

Then Uncharted 3 multiplayer beta came out and it was glorious. Then they fucked it again on release.


GAH!

 

[Jarmel]

Have to keep cutting down other studios to save money best put towards funding The Last Guardian.

So 2020 then?

 

[Somnid]

I imagine since Sony is in a dire situation right now and creating layoffs it's probably not creating a pleasant atmosphere. Stakes might be higher, friends are leaving, it's just not what it was.

 

[SolidJum5]

Hmm. My guess is that there was a conflict of interest in channelling the old ones, Druckmann and Straley desiring to speak tongue with the dead by evoking the nameless black, Richmond and Hennig preferring the ancient talisman's energy be put towards the deciphering the riddles of foresight. Unfortunately the prophecy requires four chosen souls to bridge our world with theirs, and because of their differences they all end up losing. Perhaps for the best, for the true will of the old ones is impossible to grasp with limited cognitive power of a mere human bound by flesh and mortality.

Based on the limited information available, that is my theory. I suspect there may also be a fifth chosen one that has yet to reveal themselves.

This post needs it's own trailer music. Possibly Carl Off's "O Fortuna."

 

[reptilescorpio]

Rather interesting , something had to happen with UC4 that 2 heads of the game left .

That's my thinking too.

 

[Sami+]

Okay, I've been brushing this stuff off for a while now, but this is getting ridiculous. What the fuck is going on. :/

 

[IncandescentPrecept]

Casualties List:

Amy Hennig (Creative Director) of Naughty Dog
Justin Richmond (Creative Director) of Naughty Dog
Col Rodgers (Creative Director) of Evolution Studios
Stig Asmussen (Creative Director) of Sony Santa Monica
Jaime Griesemer (Lead Designer) of Sucker Punch
60+ Employees of Sony Santa Monica
Jack Tretton as President and CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment of America

Nope, nothing to see here guys, standard turnover. Not a trend.

Jack Tretton in a exec - I don't think we should put him in the same list as I doubt he was as valuable as the others (except Stig - he was obviously useless).

Also, keep in mind that Col Rodgers never shipped a game at Evolution Studios so they obviously don't need him to make great games.

RIchmond only made Uncharted 3.

 

[kurbaan]

"forced out" Amy Hennig rumor

IGN's shoddy journalism about Amy Hennig leaving ND. Their "sources" blamed Druckmann and Straley for it, which ND in a public statement shot down.

Interesting. But to be fair to IGN there is no way any company would publicly say "Yeah we had internal politics and some guys forced other people out". They would always deny that.

But hopefully TLOU's success is not getting to those peoples heads. Uncharted is really what put ND on the TOP TOP tier. I fear for U4.

 

[MastaKilla]

WTF is going on at WWS??? This is crazy, it's a new story literally every week. What an awful month. Sony's biggest strength is looking so vulnerable right now.

 

[andycapp]

I wonder if Sony shifting it's focus towards VR is causing waves among some devs.

 

[LastNac]

I wonder what the reaction would be if Druckman left. Would people still champion a Last of Us Sequel?

Serious note, do you think Druckmann's reputation has suffered from being linked to the drama?

 

[Suzushiiro]

Hmm. My guess is that there was a conflict of interest in channelling the old ones, Druckmann and Straley desiring to speak tongue with the dead by evoking the nameless black, Richmond and Hennig preferring the ancient talisman's energy be put towards the deciphering the riddles of foresight. Unfortunately the prophecy requires four chosen souls to bridge our world with theirs, and because of their differences they all end up losing. Perhaps for the best, for the true will of the old ones is impossible to grasp with limited cognitive power of a mere human bound by flesh and mortality.

Based on the limited information available, that is my theory. I suspect there may also be a fifth chosen one that has yet to reveal themselves.

As one of the old ones I can confirm this.

 

[RoKKeR]

Stolen from Wario on Twitter, but...

http://blog.us.playstation.com/2013/11/14/uncharted-on-ps4-the-last-of-us-left-behind-dlc-revealed/

We have great news for all our Uncharted fans – Amy, Justin, and the team are hard at work on an amazing new installment of the Uncharted series to be released exclusively on the PlayStation 4 system.

...

 

[Dr. Black Jack]

I hope TLOU was worth it.

Spoiler

nope

 

[Chill Penguin]

For a while i thought this was just normal turnover at the start of a new generation. For whatever reason this news has me starting to doubt that. Something's up at Sony...it feels like they've had a serious talent drain over the past couple months.

 

[KoopaTheCasual]

So he's the one that came up with the ship Graveyard and the Ballroom fight and the desert fight in U3?

Good fucking riddance. I'm now excited for Uncharted 4.

What am I reading? A top talent developer just walked from a top talent studio, and you think this is good in any way? At the very least this means reshuffling and either a delayed or non-cohesive project.

This attitude is ridiculous.

 

[WoolyNinja]

If we get actual confirmation of exactly what happened and why Justin Richmond left then ignore the following...

I think most here are blowing these announcements like this way out of proportion. For all we know he could've been approached by the new company and was given an offer he couldn't refuse. It happens all the time. A good example is in sports - a team wins the championship and all of the sudden the assistant coaches on that team become hot commodities that other teams try to get to join their team instead.

 

[j-wood]

This type of stuff has happened all the time.

The difference is we all now have the internet so we know when it happens and we can all freak out about it.

 

[LegendofDragoonLives]

What the fuck is happening? And please, no apologetic "it happens with everyone!!11" Why are this many people leaving Sony WWS? I get the impression Team 1 is stuck at Uncharted milking...

 

[PanicFreak]

I don't think layoffs, departures, and studio closures have much to do with other companies poaching talent. Who truly knows what's going on with Sony's software side. You'd think Naughty Dog would be one of the few places people would never want to leave.

Would you want to leave your company for more money or a promotion? I'm guessing that people at Naughty Dog are the same.

 

[Gestault]

Seriously though they should scrap it and start fresh, because right now I can't imagine the game is in a good place.

As we have no indication that this is true, or even how far along in development it even is, I think this is pointlessly reactionary.

 

[Alienous]

TLoU team is still intact, so... consider me un-concerned. Uncharted would do well to be a bit more "adult" IMO.

Drake/Elena domestic violence subplot?

It's pulpy camp. It doesn't need realism.

 

[Insane Metal]

I thought layoff meant someone was fired or made redundant not voluntary leaving a company?

As far as we are concerned he left Naughty Dog for his own reasons, it is not as if any of us speculating know what happened or have met him or know his opinions on his former place of work. It all could be a coincidence or completely mundane a reason.

I might have used the wrong words, but still... what he said:

Casualties List:

Amy Hennig (Creative Director) of Naughty Dog
Justin Richmond (Creative Director) of Naughty Dog
Col Rodgers (Creative Director) of Evolution Studios
Stig Asmussen (Creative Director) of Sony Santa Monica
Jaime Griesemer (Lead Designer) of Sucker Punch
60+ Employees of Sony Santa Monica
Jack Tretton as President and CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment of America

Nope, nothing to see here guys, standard turnover. Not a trend.

 

[Chinner]

wow imagine if microsoft got this talent and let them make ryse 2. that game would destroy tlou.

 

[RamzaIsCool]

So the two leads of Uncharted PS4 were taken off or left the project. Then two other directors who have been working their balls off the last 4 years had to take over without them even taking a well earned vacation.

Dunno, but it really seems the project was in a troublesome state and they asked Neil& Bruce to get them out of that mess.

 

[Malcolm9]

People are reading way to much into this.......

 

[Jachaos]

Casualties List:

Amy Hennig (Creative Director) of Naughty Dog
Justin Richmond (Creative Director) of Naughty Dog
Col Rodgers (Creative Director) of Evolution Studios
Stig Asmussen (Creative Director) of Sony Santa Monica
Jaime Griesemer (Lead Designer) of Sucker Punch
60+ Employees of Sony Santa Monica
Jack Tretton as President and CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment of America

Nope, nothing to see here guys, standard turnover. Not a trend.

That is indeed a lot of big profile devs.

 

[dragonbane]

UC4 has no director

It has one now.

 

[StuBurns]

I think you are missing the part where it's the creative directors of each game from each studio leaving.

No one would give a shit if it was the gameplay programmer.

But it's Sony that has done almost all of those presumably. DriveClub had to be delayed significantly, someone was at fault for that, the director is no longer there. Stig had four years on a new IP, and it still got canceled, so he's gone.

I think the idea it's a sinking ship implies these people just left, I don't think most of them did at all.

The InFamous lead almost certainly would have, but he's just finished the game, it's leave now or in two or three years if he's unwilling to leave mid-project, which most people don't tend to do.

 

[batman2million]

Yes.

Man, you guys really put these first party devs on a pedastal...

This, big time. ND is a great studio but I think only the TLoU is the only remarkable game they've made. I love the Uncharted games but they're not groundbreaking.

 

[iNvid02]

hes getting rid of the competition

 

[kinoki]

While I consider Uncharted 2's multiplayer after Justin took over turning for the worse and that Uncharted 3 is boringly mediocre I still consider this to be non-news. People change jobs. A jump from Naughty Dog to Riot Games is something of a career move and talks more about the games he wants to work on than it does about Sony's downfall.

 

[anaron]

It's really weird the way so many on this board don't attribute talent to individuals on a development team.

 

[Y2Kev]

I think you are missing the part where it's the creative directors of each game from each studio leaving.

No one would give a shit if it was the gameplay programmer.

Because you wouldn't know their names. I imagine there are many programmers moving around on an annual basis.

But the whole presentation is misleading. You can't put Stig's departure, which followed his entire team being wiped out after four years with absolutely nothing to show for it, on the same level as Hennig's departure, which was unexpected and still inexplicable. The Sucker Punch designer's resume shows him jumping around every 2-3 years with regularity. Layoffs are not part of a trend.

Rolling Tretton in is just really the bee's knees.

 

[Mondy]

Stolen from Wario on Twitter, but...

http://blog.us.playstation.com/2013/11/14/uncharted-on-ps4-the-last-of-us-left-behind-dlc-revealed/



...

Well that pretty much confirms it then. UC4 is basically doing a 180 creatively.

 

[NastyBook]

The FUCK is going on at SCEI?

 

[Sky Chief]

Correct me if I am wrong but didn't something like this happen to Naughty Dog when they transitioned to the PS3 aswell Twitter and it's like we're not nearly as prevalent as they are today but I remember a story recently about Naughty Dog moving from Jak to Uncharted ruffled quite a few feathers internally and caused some departures.

Feels like ND reinvents themselves every generation, could just be happening again and the casualties are more pronounced this time because of the wider use of social media.

IIRC Gavin and Rubin both left ND after Jak 3. That seems like a much bigger deal to me, after all they were the founders of the company and since then ND has continued to grow and prosper more and more.

 

[velociraptor]

Casualties List:

Amy Hennig (Creative Director) of Naughty Dog
Justin Richmond (Creative Director) of Naughty Dog
Col Rodgers (Creative Director) of Evolution Studios
Stig Asmussen (Creative Director) of Sony Santa Monica
Jaime Griesemer (Lead Designer) of Sucker Punch
60+ Employees of Sony Santa Monica
Jack Tretton as President and CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment of America

Nope, nothing to see here guys, standard turnover. Not a trend.

What. the. fuck.

 

[T.O.P]

lolol

 

[Gestault]

"Amy, Justin, and the team are hard at work on an amazing new installment of the Uncharted series to be released exclusively on the PlayStation 4 "
http://blog.us.playstation.com/2013/11/14/uncharted-on-ps4-the-last-of-us-left-behind-dlc-revealed/



...

Salt in the wound, my friend.

 

[Weyland Y.]

Casualties List:

Amy Hennig (Creative Director) of Naughty Dog
Justin Richmond (Creative Director) of Naughty Dog
Col Rodgers (Creative Director) of Evolution Studios
Stig Asmussen (Creative Director) of Sony Santa Monica
Jaime Griesemer (Lead Designer) of Sucker Punch
60+ Employees of Sony Santa Monica
Jack Tretton as President and CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment of America

Nope, nothing to see here guys, standard turnover. Not a trend.

 

[TheLostBigBoss]

So I guess we can say with confidence this game isn't shipping in 2014.

Also there will be at least two major character deaths now that our Dark Lord has no more competition.

 

[crooked spin]

From my understanding, this is something that happens in the film industry. Pixar for instance have had a few films where directors left in the middle or towards the end of a film and another director had to come in and take over. I think this happened with Toy Story 2, Ratatouille, and Brave? I'm sure there are other examples as well.

And when it happens in the film industry it's controversial and gossip-inducing as well.

 

[LiK]

Hehehe

 

[NullPointer]

I think you are missing the part where it's the creative directors of each game from each studio leaving.

No one would give a shit if it was the gameplay programmer.

No offense to all the gameplay programmers out there. We still love you.

 

[Alienous]

hes getting rid of the competition

I find this too hilarious.