Naughty Dog is allegedly requiring most developers working on Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet to work at least eight additional hours per week to meet the deadline for an internal demo that will be reviewed by Sony.
This is according to A Bloomberg Reportwhich says that from the end of October, Intergalatic developers are required to work at least eight hours a week, but no more than 60 total hours a week, and record their time in an internal spreadsheet.
These developers have also been asked to work from the office five days a week, whereas previously only three days a week were required, with a maximum of two days working from home. This has resulted in some people having to seek care for children and pets that were not previously needed.
The mandatory overtime is intended to complete the internal demo in time for Sony’s review, after the demo missed multiple deadlines. Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet does not currently have a public release date or set window, but a Bloomberg report internally suggests that it is scheduled for release in mid-2027.
The report stated that mandatory overtime ended this week and that Naughty Dog will return to office work just three days a week until the end of January, with a more detailed schedule to be announced in the future.
Naughty Dog has been famed for its crunch for years in series such as Uncharted AND The last of usand the studio even openly employs people who would like to crunch. In 2021, studio co-presidents Evan Wells and Neil Druckmann addressed the issue in interview with Game Informerstating that while they wanted to prevent burnout, they did not want to place universal limits on employee passion and creativity. In the same year the studio hired several producers specifically designed to ease the workload. However, many of these producers have already reportedly left the company, and some employees have apparently already been working long hours to complete the first Intergalactic trailer, which debuted at last year’s The Game Awards.
Druckmann called Intergalactic the most “ambitious”, “expansive” and “expensive” game Naughty Dog has ever created. “What can I say and what can’t I say? I can say that we are in the thick of it. We do it, we play it. We give it our all.”
Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. Have a story tip? Send it to rvalentine@ign.com.
