Naughty Dog’s Head of Technology Christian Gyrling is Leaving the Studio

Naughty Dog has announced a high-profile departure in its ranks. Taking to social media platform X, the developer confirmed that Head of Technology Christian Gyrling is leaving Naughty Dog after having spent 17 years at the studio.

“We’re grateful for his many contributions to the studio, our games, and his teammates,” Naughty Dog wrote. “We will miss Christian greatly and wish him the best of luck on where his path leads next.”

Gyrling joined Naughty Dog in 2006, where he worked in a number of programming roles, before becoming the studio’s vice president in 2020. Earlier this year, in July, he left his role and took up the position of Head of Technology. He has worked on virtually all major Naughty Dog releases since he joined the studio, including several Uncharted and The Last of Us titles.

Gyrling is being replaced by Travis McIntosh as the new Head of Technology. McIntosh has been at Naughty Dog for 19 years, and previously served as the studio’s Programming Director.

Earlier this year, Naughty Dog’s co-president Evan Wells announced his departure from the studio, with Neil Druckmann taking over complete leadership in his absence. The developer has also hit some major stumbling blocks in recent months, having laid off “at least” 25 contract employees. Recent reports have also claimed that Naughty Dog’s standalone The Last of Us multiplayer project had been put “on ice”, though game director Vinit Agarwal has since then confirmed that the game is still in development.