The reason was missed development deadlines.
Naughty Dog has faced accusations of a crunch culture. According to Bloomberg, studio employees were forced to work mandatory overtime hours to complete the demo for Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet.
Mandatory overtime began in late October and lasted about seven weeks. Developers were required to work a minimum of eight additional hours per week, recording them in an internal spreadsheet. This was done to make up for missed deadlines and prepare a demo for review by Sony. At the same time, employees were prohibited from exceeding 60 hours per week.
At the same time, mandatory attendance at the Santa Monica office was introduced five days a week instead of the usual three, which forced many to seek alternative care for children and pets.
Previously, some teams worked overtime to create the debut trailer in 2024, but now mandatory overtime has affected most of the studio's employees.
