Bloomberg: Naughty Dog Ordered Staff to Work Overtime

• Staff reportedly required to work at least eight extra hours per week, up to 60 hours.
• Mandated overtime allegedly ran for seven weeks while finalizing Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet demo.
• Developers were told to be in-office five days a week (up from three); management says this will revert in January.
• Sony and Naughty Dog declined to comment on the Bloomberg report.

What the report says

Bloomberg reported that Naughty Dog asked its development teams to take on "mandatory" overtime as the studio worked to finalize a demo for Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet.

According to people familiar with the matter, staff were asked to work a minimum of eight extra hours weekly, with some schedules reaching as high as 60 hours in total.

How the overtime was tracked

Sources told Bloomberg employees were required to log overtime in an internal spreadsheet. The period of intensified hours reportedly lasted seven weeks and ended this week.

Developers were also instructed to come into the office five days a week rather than their usual three — a shift employees say disrupted child and pet care routines.

Studio and publisher response

Both Sony and Naughty Dog declined to comment when contacted about Bloomberg’s reporting. The studio has reportedly told staff that the five-day office requirement will return to three days a week in January.

Background and previous scrutiny

Naughty Dog has faced scrutiny over its approach to "crunch" in the past. The issue resurfaced in 2021 when then co-president Evan Wells described his own experience with intense work periods, saying he had "definitely personally worked very hard over the years" and that it helped his career.

Pushback against mandatory overtime and crunch has grown across the games industry, with developers and unions pressing for better working conditions and clearer limits on extended hours.

Why this matters

Mandated overtime affects employee wellbeing, retention, and the industry’s broader reputation. For a high-profile studio like Naughty Dog — known for The Last of Us and Uncharted — renewed reports of compulsory long hours raise questions about production practices as deadlines tighten.

With Sony owning Naughty Dog and Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet positioned as a major upcoming title, how the studio balances delivery schedules with staff welfare will be closely watched by developers, advocates, and players alike.

Primary reporting cited: Bloomberg. Related historical coverage referenced public comments from Naughty Dog leadership in 2021.