Report Naughty Dog Enforced Mandatory Overtime for New Game Demo
According to a report by Jason Schreier for Bloomberg, Naughty Dog forced its employees to work overtime for seven consecutive weeks in order to finish a demo of the new game Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet. The crunch time was said to have started in late October.
The Details of Overtime were Said to Have Included
Initial sources claim that these measures were to bring production back on track after several missed deadlines. Allegations concerning the overtime state that:
- Employees were required to work at least eight hours of overtime on top of their regular working hours.
- The overtime worked had to be recorded in an exclusive spreadsheet.
- The studio management was reportedly recommending that employees do not clock in more than 60 hours of work in a week.
Changes to Office Work Policy
While overtime was underway, employees were also given a full-time, five-day work week in-office. The studio had transitioned to a hybrid model with three days in the office and the other two at home; this most recent change posed difficulties for several employees with children or pets.
Studio Context and Future Worries
The studio's history of labor and hard times has been stated by the report, but not much have ever felt forced. Unlike previous promises made by studio president Neil Druckmann about such practices, this one seems to be counterproductive.
The demo has been completed for the executives of Sony, but the mandatory schedule is expected to continue for the better part of January. Employees have reportedly expressed concerns that they will be required to crunch yet again at the end of production of this game in 2027.
The development of Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet has no definite release date, although its arrival can be expected in the summer of 2027.
Source: Bloomberg
