With games like Uncharted 4 and the next gen version of The Last Of Us on the way, working at Naughty Dog must be as exhausting as it is exciting. The level of quality with each of their titles is obviously the product of talent combined with immense amounts of hard work.
In a discussion on Twitter yesterday, Naughty Dog graphics programmer Corrinne Yu revealed just how hard that work has been, briefly discussing the long hours going into the production of The Last of Us and the Uncharted 4 trailer leading up to E3, including overnights and weekends:
We are coding hard over the weekends with our Naughty Dog graphics team to push The Last of Us past 60 fps.
— Corrinne Yu (@Corrinne) June 15, 2014
Adding,
@LiaSae To graphics code head, face, Drake's shirt for Uncharted 4 PS4 trailer, I slept over night at ND office many times. Such is reality.
— Corrinne Yu (@Corrinne) June 15, 2014
As this prompts conversation and others join the discussion, it turns towards the competitive culture of coding, prompting a comment that the energy should be steered into "expressing something". She continues:
@ocornut @bionicbeagle @ludovicchabant @LiaSae @Heckler456 I'm not into competing.I definitely strive to "express something" in my game work
— Corrinne Yu (@Corrinne) June 16, 2014
As Cliff Blezinski comments sadly that they "killed themselves for a trade show that would eventually fade away", she replies:
@therealcliffyb @LiaSae And I have faith in Uncharted 4 narrative and gameplay will stand game art history test of time and make a statement
— Corrinne Yu (@Corrinne) June 16, 2014
No doubt working with a team like Naughty Dog is an extremely rewarding experience, and an opportunity that few would risk losing. I can only imagine how driven one would have to be in order to keep up with their team. Games like Uncharted and The Last Of Us are not a product of accident and luck.
However, work hours are a touchy issue within the ranks of programmers; many ambitious and motivated people are willing to put in the long hours and weekends to get the job done, but that dedication is often exploited and leads to increased pressure for coworkers to engage in perpetual "crunch mode". This leads not just to creative burn-out but a decreased quality of life, and it happens in many facets of the tech industry. Much of it is fueled by existing stereotypes with regards to the personal lives of "nerds", but it becomes reinforced culturally and financially, especially when entire projects are built on tight schedules. This ultimately leads to either a less inspired or poorly programmed product, as turnover rate and worker dissatisfaction sky rocket.
I look forward to Uncharted 4. The next gen version of The Last Of Us is on my to-do list. I just hope it's not coming at the expense of their worker's well being.
