As a long-time fan and follower of Naughty Dog‘s incredible journey, I can’t help but marvel at their meteoric rise from humble beginnings to gaming titans. Their early games were the stuff of legends, with Crash Bandicoot becoming a household name in the ’90s. But it wasn’t until the mid-2000s that they truly cemented their place among the greats.
It’s no secret that the cost of game development is skyrocketing. Those rising costs are a key reason why Naughty Dog’s founders allowed the studio to be sold to Sony.
Andy Gavin, one of the co-founders of the renowned game studio (established in 1984 along with Jason Rubin), recently shared on his LinkedIn page why they decided to sell the company to Sony in 2001. The decision was primarily driven by financial considerations, but not for personal wealth accumulation. Rather, the escalating costs of game production were a concern, and they sought to ensure their long-term financial stability.
Why did we sell Naughty Dog?
It’s a question I’ve been asked countless times. The answer is simple: budgets were skyrocketing.
Back in the 1980s, when we established Naughty Dog, game development costs were relatively low. We financed everything ourselves, reinvesting earnings from one project into the next.
– Our early 80s games cost less than $50,000 each to make.
The TV series “Rings of Power” (1988-1991) witnessed a significant increase in its budget, reaching approximately $100,000. Remarkably, it generated slightly over this amount as after-tax profits by the year 1992.
– In 1993, we rolled that $100k from Rings into a self funded Way of the Warrior.
– But Crash Bandicoot (’94-96) cost $1.6 million to make.
– By the time we got to Jak and Daxter (’99-01), the budget busted the $15 million mark.
Since 2004, the price tag for top-tier games such as Jak 3 has climbed significantly, reaching between $45-$50 million. This cost trend has continued to escalate over time.
However, as far back as the year 2000, each project was personally financed by us, and the pressure of managing these growing expenses individually was immense.
The problem isn’t limited to us; it’s a systematic challenge within the triple-A gaming industry. Developers rarely possess the means to finance their own games, leaving publishers with significant control.
Naughty Dog Has Enjoyed Immense Success Since The 2000s
Although they gained recognition through the creation of the Crash Bandicoot series in the 1990s, it wasn’t until the mid-2000s that Naughty Dog truly cemented its legendary status.
Following the success of the “Jak and Daxter” series on the PlayStation 2, Naughty Dog gained widespread recognition with their “Uncharted” franchise for the PlayStation 3. The initial trilogy, influenced heavily by the “Indiana Jones” films, provided a much-needed hit game for the struggling PS3 console. In 2013, they continued to push boundaries with “The Last of Us,” further establishing themselves as top-tier developers in the gaming industry, comparable to giants like Rockstar Games.
Naughty Dog’s games have turned into eagerly awaited titles, a pattern that persists with the release of _Uncharted 4_ and _The Last of Us Part II_. This trend is set to continue with their latest announcement – _Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet_, their upcoming game.
The one cost of these marquee games, though, is a gigantic development budget. Sony has poured hundreds of millions of dollars into these games, including projects from Naughty Dog that will never be released, like the multiplayer The Last of Us spin-off, which was canceled.
If Naughty Dog were solely responsible for funding their projects, it’s likely that many of these games wouldn’t exist at all.
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2024-12-26 22:39