The Downfall Of Naughty Dog? Last Of Us 2 Leaks Are Just The Beginning

Further analysis by former Kotaku journalist Jason Schreier suggests that the leak was carried out by external hackers, who exploited a weakness in an older Naughty Dog game to gain access to the sensitive files. The direct source remains unknown and as of May 4th, Sony and Naughty Dog have been trawling the web, attempting to remove spoiler materials from many different websites and put a lid on the debacle, even as the fan backlash continues to swell.

The leak marks the height of a contentious saga that has been boiling up since 2014. Following the release of The Last of Us a year earlier, Naughty Dog found itself butting heads over future direction. Beginning with the development of Uncharted 4: A Thief's End, work culture at the company began to suffer. While at first, studio veteran Amy Hennig led Nathan Drake's final adventure, she left the company in March 2014, leaving directors Neil Druckmann and Bruce Straley to take over. While Uncharted 4 did release to critical acclaim in May 2016, speculation has persisted as to what really went on behind the scenes.

Sources who spoke to IGN shortly after Hennig's departure alleged that the skilled developer was forced out of the company by Druckmann and Straley, who proceeded to take over her leadership duties.

The community has added fuel to the fire by pointing out the drastic changes to Naughty Dog's storytelling since 2014. The developer denied these claims, though fans have not been pacified by these reassurances as of late. Further details have also come out over the studio overworking its staff; in March 2020, some employees took the company to task, most notably Jonathan Cooper, a former developer who has since published the book: "GAME ANIM", an insight into video game animation.

Cooper said on Twitter that: "For the demo shown last September [Sony's Outbreak Day Event], the gameplay animators crunched more than I've ever seen and required weeks of recovery afterwards. One good friend of mine was hospitalised at that time due to overwork. He still had over half a year to go. There have been others since".

Article continues on next page...