Sony and Naughty Dog appear to have brought back the video game industry's holiday tradition of mandatory overtime. The developers of Last Of Us and Uncharted have reportedly been working for the past seven weeks to complete an internal demo of their new sci-fi action game. Intergalaxy: Heretic Prophet.
The report in question is taken from BloombergJason Schreier (paywall), who claims that team members at the Santa Monica studio have been asked to work at least eight extra hours a week since late October. To achieve this, Naughty Dog also allegedly required employees to work in the office five days a week (rather than three), logging overtime in an internal spreadsheet. Some employees have had to scramble to make short-term child and pet care arrangements. At the very least, Naughty Dog advised employees not to work more than 60 hours a week.
This overtime period is apparently an attempt to get Intergalactic back on track after several missed deadlines, with the game currently slated for a mid-2027 release on consoles. Naughty Dog has long had a reputation for being a crunch company, sometimes with employees as a result, hospital care is requiredbut the Bloomberg article says that for the first time in “recent years,” overtime is mandatory for the “core portion” of the studio.
Schreier writes that in 2021, Naughty Dog introduced a team of producers tasked with reducing the development workload (among other responsibilities) after grueling development The Last of Us: Part II. However, many of those producers have already left, according to “people familiar with the situation.”
Most Naughty Dog employees are reported to have returned to normal hours this week, with management saying people will again be able to work two weekdays from home until the end of January, with a more detailed work schedule for 2026 to be revealed after the holidays.
If you're new to Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet, it's the story of a stranded bounty hunter investigating the secrets of a forgotten planet. This is Naughty Dog's first non-sequel video game in recent memory, which suggests there will be a lot of pressure on Sony to deliver.
