A lot is expected of the upcoming Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End. The game is slated to be the next entry in Naughty Dog and Sony’s flagship series, as well as Naughty Dog’s first original game on the PS4- Naughty Dog, who, as a developer, have not seen a whole lot of misses since their days making Crash Bandicoot on the PlayStation.
What is the reason for the developer’s enduring success? Of course, the reasons for why Naughty Dog sticks the landing each time now don’t necessarily apply to why they used to back in the Crash Bandicoot days, but speaking to The Guardian, Naughty Dog’s Ricky Cambier discussed the reason the developer continues to churn out hits- or one of the reasons, anyway.
“I think the one thing that has allowed Naughty Dog to be successful is the speed at which we iterate. I can come in with an idea in the morning and put it in the hands of a designer or director and it can be in the game in the afternoon. And it may be that it doesn’t work as a whole, but one aspect will. So we say to ourselves ‘why did that work? Let’s get someone else to try it’. And if it resonates with them, we think, ah that’s interesting, let’s explore that some more,” Cambier said.
Definitely, an environment like that sounds like fertile grounds for creativity to gestate- Naughty Dog, it seems, place a premium on artistic merit and creativity rather than on design by committee- and that ultimately shows in their games, which each feels like a labor of love.
Uncharted 4 will launch in May on the PS4.