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| Company type | Subsidiary |
| Industry | Video games |
| Founded | 1984; 41 years ago (1984) inMcLean, Virginia, US |
| Founders | |
| Headquarters | , US |
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| Products |
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Number of employees | 400+[1] (July 2023) |
| Parent |
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| Website | naughtydog.com |
Naughty Dog, LLC (formerlyJAM Software, Inc.)[2][3] is an Americanfirst-partyvideo game developer based inSanta Monica, California.[4] Founded byAndy Gavin andJason Rubin in 1984,[2] the studio was acquired bySony Computer Entertainment in 2001. Gavin and Rubin produced a sequence of progressively more successful games, includingRings of Power andWay of the Warrior in the early 1990s. The latter game promptedUniversal Interactive Studios to sign the duo to a three-title contract and fund the expansion of the company.
After designer and producerMark Cerny convinced Naughty Dog to create a character-basedplatform game that would use the3D capabilities of the new systems, Naughty Dog createdCrash Bandicoot for thePlayStation in 1996. Naughty Dog developed threeCrash Bandicoot games over the next several years. After developingCrash Team Racing, the company began working onJak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy for thePlayStation 2.
In 2004, Rubin, who had become the company's president, left the company to work on a new project,The Iron Saint.[5][6] In addition to their inhouse game team, Naughty Dog is also home to theICE Team,[7] one ofPlayStation Studios's central technology groups.[8] The company's firstPlayStation 3 game,Uncharted: Drake's Fortune, was released in 2007, followed byseveral sequels and spin-off titles. This lasted until Naughty Dog announced a newintellectual property for the PlayStation 3,The Last of Us, which was in development by a secondary team at the studio and released to critical acclaim in 2013 whichspawned a franchise.The Last of Us Part II was released for the PlayStation 4 in 2020 to similar acclaim. The studio is developingIntergalactic: The Heretic Prophet for thePlayStation 5.
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Jason Rubin andAndy Gavin met as pre-teens in 1982 at a weekendHebrew school in Virginia. After they discovered a mutual interest in computers and video games, they began regularly discussing programming, game development, andgame piracy during class.[9] Having experimented withLisp andC++, Rubin and Gavin teamed up with a friend, Mike Goyet, and founded JAM Software in 1984.[9][2] Theacronym "JAM" stood for "Jason, Andy and Mike"; however, when Goyet became uninterested in the work and did not contribute to JAM's operations, Rubin and Gavin bought back his share of the company (aboutUS$100) within months and the acronym was redefined as "Jason and Andy's Magic".[9][10] Rubin and Gavin chose to create software for theApple II and decided to create askiing game for their second title. During production of the game, Gavin accidentally copied bootleg games over the only copy of the skiing game they had. Rubin then created a new skiing game calledSki Crazed (originally titledSki Stud) within the weekend. The game played slowly, but Gavin reprogrammed the game to play quicker. Later, the game was gathered and published by Baudville, who bought the game from Jam Software for $250.[11]Ski Crazed sold more than 1,000 copies.[12] Rubin and Gavin created anApple IIGSgraphic adventure game titledDream Zone, which was released in 1988 and ported to theAtari ST,Amiga andPCs.[13]
In 1989, Rubin and Gavin released a game titledKeef the Thief, which was published byElectronic Arts for the Apple IIGS, Amiga and PCs. To make a fresh start and to dissolve their relationship with Baudville, Rubin and Gavin renamed Jam Software asNaughty Dog on September 9, 1989.[14] Naughty Dog also created and developedRings of Power, which was published by Electronic Arts for theSega Genesis in 1991. Rubin and Gavin were joined on the title by programmerVijay Pande, who would later become better known for orchestrating thedistributed computing disease researching project known asFolding@home atStanford University.[15][16]
In 1994, Rubin and Gavin produced the3DO Interactive Multiplayer titleWay of the Warrior and presented it toMark Cerny ofUniversal Interactive Studios. Cerny was pleased withWay of the Warrior and signed Naughty Dog on to Universal Interactive Studios for three additional games.[17] Rubin and Gavin devised a plan to create a three-dimensionalaction-platform game.[18] Because the player would be forced to constantly look at the character's rear, the game was jokingly codenamed "Sonic's Ass Game".[18]
Production of the game began in 1994, during which Naughty Dog expanded its number of employees and invented a development tool called Game Oriented Object Lisp, to create the characters and gameplay.[19] CartoonistsCharles Zembillas and Joe Pearson were recruited to create the characters of the game, which resulted in the titular characterCrash Bandicoot. After 14 months of development, the game was shown toSony Computer Entertainment, who then signed on to publish the game.Crash Bandicoot was shown to the public for the first time atE3 and went on to become one of the highest-selling titles for thePlayStation console, selling over 6.8 million copies.[13] Naughty Dog continued to develop two moreCrash Bandicoot games, with a spin-offCrash Team Racing kart racing game.
Sony bought Naughty Dog and made them a first-party studio in 2001.[20] According to Gavin in 2025, the primary reason Naughty Dog sought a buyer was due to the skyrocketing costs of AAA video game development from their own pockets; their first games in the 1980s had had budgets of around $50,000, whileCrash Bandicoot had risen to $1.5 million. Gavin said the acquisition by Sony gave them the stability they needed to continue development.[21]
As Sony, Naughty Dog first developed thefirst game of theJak and Daxter series.[citation needed] TheJak and Daxter games met similar success as theCrash Bandicoot games. During the development ofJak 3 andJak X: Combat Racing games, Rubin and Gavin slowly transitionedEvan Wells and Stephen White to become co-presidents of Naughty Dog by the time the founders left the studio. White was replaced byChristophe Balestra [fr] after a year.[citation needed]
In 2007, Naughty Dog released theUncharted series, and made their first approach to realistic worlds and characters, in contrast to theirCrash Bandicoot andJak and Daxter series, which featured fantastical worlds set in a fictional setting. TheUncharted franchise has been praised for its cinematic quality and technical proficiency, and has sold over 41 million copies worldwide as of December 2017.[22]
During the 2011Spike TV Video Game Awards, Naughty Dog unveiled a newintellectual property,The Last of Us, described as a "post-apocalyptic third-person action-adventure game", following the plight of a teenage girl, Ellie, and her adult protector, Joel, in a post-apocalyptic United States overrun with humans infected with a disease reminiscent of the infection caused byCordyceps unilateralis.The Last of Us received universal acclaim upon release.[23] In 2012 and 2013, Naughty Dog teamed withMass Media Inc. to release theJak and Daxter Collection. It contains high-definition ports of the originalPlayStation 2 trilogy and was released forPlayStation 3 andPlayStation Vita respectively. In May 2013, Naughty Dog confirmed it will keep its existing in-house engine used inUncharted andThe Last of Us for thePlayStation 4.[24][25][26][27]
On November 23, 2013,Corrinne Yu, principal engine architect atMicrosoft'sHalo 4 developer343 Industries, announced that she had joined Naughty Dog.[28] On December 7, 2013, during the first edition ofSpike'sVGX award show, Naughty Dog won the Studio of the Year award for its work onThe Last of Us.[29] On March 4, 2014,Uncharted lead writerAmy Hennig left the studio,[30] withUncharted 3 director Justin Richmond andThe Last of Us lead artist Nate Wells leaving soon after. Later, it was revealed thatThe Last of Us would be released on the PlayStation 4 as a remastered version.[31]
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In March 2017, Balestra announced that he would retire his role as co-president on April 3, 2017, after working at the company for fifteen years. Evan Wells remains in his role as president.[32] In September 2017, game directorBruce Straley announced his departure from Naughty Dog, stating that he "found [his] energy focusing in other directions" following a sabbatical.[33] Creative directorNeil Druckmann was promoted to vice president in March 2018.[34]
In October 2017, former environment artist David Ballard claimed that he suffered a mental breakdown after experiencing sexual harassment by a senior team member while working at Naughty Dog in late 2015, stating that he informed PlayStation'sHR department and the following day was terminated from his position and offered $20,000 to remain silent regarding the allegations, which he declined. Naughty Dog responded to the allegations with a statement declaring that it had "not found any evidence of having received allegations from Mr. Ballard that he was harassed in any way".[35]
Neil Druckmann was promoted to co-president alongside Evan Wells on December 4, 2020; Alison Mori, formerly the director of operations, and Christian Gyrling, the former co-director of programming, were promoted to co-vice presidents in his place.[36] On October 4, 2021, director of communications Arne Meyer announced that he had been promoted to co-vice president.[37] In July 2022,Josh Scherr announced his departure from Naughty Dog after 21 years with the company.[38] In July 2023, Wells announced he would retire from the studio by the year's end. Simultaneously, Druckmann became head of creative, with Mori promoted to studio manager and head of operations, Meyer to head of culture and communications, and Gyrling to head of technology. The leadership team was expanded further, with Erick Pangilinan and Jeremy Yates becoming co-heads of the art departments, and Anthony Newman to head of production and design.[1] Gyrling departed the company after 17 years in November 2023, replaced as head of technology by Travis McIntosh.[39]
As a subsidiary of Sony Computer Entertainment, Naughty Dog is best known for developing games for thePlayStation consoles, including theCrash Bandicoot series for the originalPlayStation,Jak and Daxter onPlayStation 2, andUncharted andThe Last of Us onPlayStation 3,PlayStation 4, andPlayStation 5. Before this, they also developed games includingDream Zone,Keef the Thief,Rings of Power andWay of the Warrior.[40][41]
Naughty Dog is known for its unique way of handling game development. The studio does not have a producer in either of their teams and relies on minimalmiddle-management.[44]
Naughty Dog is home to the ICE Team, one of Sony's World Wide Studios central technology groups. The termICE originally stood forInitiative for a Common Engine, which describes the original purpose of the studio.[7] The ICE Team focuses on creating core graphics technologies for Sony's worldwidefirst party published titles, including low level game engine components, graphics processing pipelines, supporting tools, and graphics profiling anddebugging tools. The ICE Team also supportsthird party developers with a suite of engine components, and a graphics analysis, profiling, and debugging tool for theRSX. Both enable developers to get better performance out ofPlayStation hardware.[45][46]
Naughty Dog won the Studio of the Year award at the 2013VGX,[47] the 2013Golden Joystick Awards,[48] and the 2020 Golden Joystick Awards.[49]
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