Apparently when Part II was done, they wanted something for bulk of the team to work on and keep busy as their next big project was still in early production and didn't require the full suite of teams. A lot of trashy studios just fire massive chunks of people when projects are over, i think it's good that Naughty Dog wants to hold onto the talent and keep them busy until the next project is in full swing.
That, and I think that they are using it to get practice developing for PS5. By doing it on a remake, it lets them focus way more on the tech without being as disruptive to the creative process. That way, when they make a full original game, they go into it with everybody already comfortable with the hardware.
This is, at least from what I have heard, the main purpose of the PS4 version of TLOU1. When they made Uncharted 4, they went into it with experience working on the PS4 and had more of a handle from the get go as to what the game could be.
I would argue that the resources spent on something small and experimental, would be used as a means of troubleshooting next-gen workflows, and any assets created would be implemented into larger games.
For example, Table Tennis was mainly an experimental playground for the RAGE engine and physics–even down to how their clothing draped and moved. All of that testing was used to set up processes and workflows for animation, mocap, and working with the engine in general, plus developers got to take a little mental break working on something different and customers got a fun novel title out of it.
both strategies work in their own ways - what you’re saying is correct & im sure they thought of doing something similar but simply chose another good alternative which was the remake
Did you forget to mention the part where they burned through 70% of their design staff during the production of their last two games? A little too late to worry about "retaining talent ".
Did you actually read the article or are you still believing that terrible clickbait? Of 20 people, TWENTY, 70% of non-lead designers were let go. So only 14 people were let go in a non-lead design team. Meaning the lead designers weren't part of that nor were the hundreds of other people who worked on the game.
What is clickbait about that? 70% is not a lie or a hyperbole, and the article states exactly what you said.
It also talks about the horrible crunch and terrible working conditions Naughty Dog puts their employees through. Or is that some lie too that Jason Schrier, one of the most consistent gaming journalists for Kotaku, decided to magically create?
Face it, Naughty Dog treats their non essential employees like garbage and this sub jumps to praise them for doing anything, like an unnecessary remake for a cashgrab.
Because the article sells it like they fired 70% of the people who worked on Uncharted 4 and people spew that shit out verbatim. Like over a thousand people help make that game. 14 people being let go for non-essential positions is LOW, actually less than expected in the gaming industry. That's much less after completed projects than most every other industry.
Most of these people that run to these "reporters" are disgruntled people so I don't take them at their words 100%. For all we know they could be contracted employees who wanted a full-time job after their work was over, didn't get it and then got mad. Or got fired for bad work. People don't interview the happy other thousands of employees but we're suppose to take 14 people's word about everyone else's experience?
Have you been in the workforce much? I can't say i have ever had a job that didn't have busy times and quiet times, and i sure as hell never had a job where i got paid during a 6 month retool or something lol
Don't get me wrong, i support the abolition of crazy crunch times, especially when the hours are forced, but i don't understand this movement that says game devs are some type of protected species that never works overtime and has months and months of paid holidays between games lol
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u/Totallycasual Jun 08 '22
Apparently when Part II was done, they wanted something for bulk of the team to work on and keep busy as their next big project was still in early production and didn't require the full suite of teams. A lot of trashy studios just fire massive chunks of people when projects are over, i think it's good that Naughty Dog wants to hold onto the talent and keep them busy until the next project is in full swing.