Naughty Dog developers are reportedly returning to heavy overtime hours during the development of the studio's upcoming PS5 sci-fi title, Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet.
Former senior game designer Benson Russell suggests that the practice of 'crunch' has become deeply embedded in the studio's culture. Speaking in an interview with YouTuber Kiwi Talkz, Russell noted that the studio's leadership once explicitly framed overtime as a requirement for high-tier production.
"Every meeting after that was always like, 'Hey, what are we gonna do to try and mitigate crunch? How are we gonna make this better?'" Russell said.
He recounted an instance where management admitted that extreme workloads were simply necessary to maintain the studio's standards. "It was said, 'well, we’ve just come to realize that this is what it takes to make games at our level. If you don’t want to do that, we understand, we’ll write you a great letter of recommendation.'"
Internal deadlines drive overtime
While these comments date back over a decade, Russell believes the studio's current struggles with Intergalactic stem from treating internal milestones with the same urgency as final release dates.
This pattern mirrors reports from December regarding Intergalactic, where the team reportedly crunched to complete a playable demo for Sony review, despite a projected 2027 launch window.
Russell explained that management often sets these aggressive new goalposts when they feel the project has "wandered too much" and requires more structure.
Naughty Dog previously attempted to overhaul its workflow following the release of The Last of Us Part II in 2020. In the 'Grounded' documentary, the studio stated it was hiring specialized producers to eliminate systemic crunch and repair its industry reputation.
However, recent reports suggest these changes may be temporary. A December 2025 Bloomberg report indicates that many of the producers hired to fix the studio's workflow have already departed Naughty Dog, leaving the studio to revert to its historical development habits.
