One of Naughty Dog’s key staff members, Bruce Straley, has announced he will be leaving the development company.
This news was announced on Naughty Dog’s Twitter account and on Naughty Dog’s official website.
“Today, with the heaviest of hearts, I am announcing my departure from Naughty Dog.” -Bruce Straley
Read his lettter https://t.co/f2Kgg7w05j pic.twitter.com/2AdpEJI6O8— Naughty Dog (@Naughty_Dog) 13 September 2017
Straley describes the choice as the “hardest decision of [his] career,” in particular saying that to him “Naughty Dog is home.” During some extended time outside of the office after working on “three extremely demanding projects” (presumably The Last of Us, The Last of Us: Left Behind and Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End), he found his “energy focusing in other directions” and saw it as a sign to move on. In his message, he thanked the numerous developers he worked alongside and the fans for their support. He closed out his message by affirming he was a “Dog for life.”
There is currently no evidence on what new projects Straley is working on or when he will announce them, but he encourages fans to keep an eye on his Twitter for future updates.
Straley’s departure has resulted in numerous Naught Dog developers bidding their farewells, in particular Neil Druckmann (co-director of The Last of Us) said he was “excited to experience whatever he [Straley] does next”, and Naughty Dog’s current president Evan Wells posted a send-off on Naughty Dog’s official website.
Straley had joined the company in 1999 to work as an artist for Crash Team Racing and had worked as an artist for the group through till 2007 where he became a co-art director for the first Uncharted game, Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune. He went on to co-direct Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, The Last of Us, and Uncharted 4.
