Bruce Straley has announced his departure from Naughty Dog in a heartfelt blog posted to the studio’s website. He’s best known for his work on theUnchartedfranchise, as well as his role as co-director onThe Last of Usalongside Neil Druckmann.
“This has been the hardest decision of my career,” wrote Straley. “Naughty Dogis home. The Kennel is family. I’ve learned and grown so much from working with this incredible team.” There’s no word on what’s next for the designer, but by all accounts he’ll be continuing his creative endeavors elsewhere.
Straley joined Naughty Dog in 1999, doing texture work onCrash Team Racing. Before that, he spent some time at Crystal Dynamics, where he first crossed paths with Amy Hennig, who he would later collaborate with on theUnchartedgames — he described both Hennig and Druckmann as “great creative partners” in his farewell blog.
Throughout the production ofJak and Daxterand its two sequels, Straley played an important role bridging the gap between Naughty Dog’s artistic and technical staff, helping carve out the game’s visual appearance. His good work saw him named co-art director onUncharted: Drake’s Fortunealongside Bob Rafei.
ByUncharted 2: Among Thieves, he had been promoted to game director, setting himself and the game a target of winning a game of the year award. This came to pass, a first for the studio, and so Straley was afforded a great deal of creative freedom as he embarked upon thecreation ofThe Last of Usalongside Druckmann.
“Although I am sad to see him go, I couldn’t be more excited to see what ideas Bruce is working on,” wrote Naughty Dog president Evan Wells inhis own post. “We all wish him the best luck on his new endeavors.”
Given that Straley and Hennig go back such a long way, it wouldn’t be too surprising to see the pair work together once again in the future. Hennig is currently hard at work on anuntitledStar Warsprojectfor EA. Whatever happens, a top-tier talent such as Straley is sure to be in high demand, whether he wants to head to another major studio or strike out in his own.
