Ashley from GamersFTW writes: With the Uncharted: Nathan Drake collection out last week and Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End looming eagerly, we wanted to take a look at the studio behind one of the biggest and most successful Playstation franchises. A company that has shaped the way the industry views games, from the goofy but loveable Crash Bandicoot to the cinematic escapades of Uncharted and The Last of Us, Naughty Dog’s expanse is wide; but how exactly did they get to the forefront of video game development?
Former Naughty Dog artist Gabriel Betancourt explains why the "sweet spot" for game teams is under 200 people and how AAA "factories" kill creativity.
There’s definitely some truth to this. When teams get too large, coordination starts to outweigh creativity—layers of approval, risk aversion, and tight deadlines can turn bold ideas into “safe” ones. Keeping a team under ~200 people sounds ideal for maintaining clear communication and a shared vision. That said, massive AAA projects also come with huge technical demands and expectations, so scaling up isn’t always avoidable. The real challenge is figuring out how to keep that small-team creativity alive inside big studio structures.
More than that, it's logistically untenable. Inevitably, when teams get too large, how do you keep tabs on accountability? I suspect this massive team size is a consequence of the perfectionism streak Naughty Dog has.
I wish we could have so many people working on something and it turns out great because I'm all for collaboration in spirit - the problem is too many people as part of the larger team and smaller units. Suppose for example that you have too many people in the art department; you will very often come up against fiercely competing visions for how things should look. That competitive vision will cause friction between team members, team doesn't work as a unit, the back and forth can further delay parts that the other departments are waiting for, etc etc.
A 200-person team says, to me, that we need to scale back game development. Even if it means we go back to PS2 era costs and scale, why not? Those games are still great fun, the budgets were in check, and you could literally break the 200-man team into like 10 20-man teams working on different projects.
Travis Howe: "A long while back, a team was assembled to pitch a remaster of Jak & Daxter. I was asked to animate an IGC shot-for-shot, to show what this updated version would look like.
To be abundantly clear: this was NOT commissioned by Sony, nor did they have any involvement in our proposal -- this was essentially a fan pitch to try and gain their permission."
The Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences (AIAS) is proud to announce that Evan Wells, former Co-President of Naughty Dog and one of the most respected studio leaders in modern game development, will be honored with a prestigious Hall of Fame Award. Wells’ induction will take place at the 29th annual D.I.C.E. Awards on February 12, 2026, at the Aria Resort in Las Vegas. Neil Druckmann, a longtime collaborator from Naughty Dog, will present Wells with his Hall of Fame Award live at the ceremony.
Would love to see Naughty Dog return to their platforming halcyon days, but not confident that it'll happen with the founding pair of Gavin and Rubin gone.
Still, the Uncharted and Last of Us series aren't bad, either :P
Always really enjoy reading about a companies history, it's so interesting to see how they started and developed.
They started at 15??? Well, it appears I've wasted my life
"saw the introduction of the Uncharted series with Uncharted: Among Thieves in 2007".
I think the time line in the article is a little off. Lol