Naughty Dog

Naughty Dog, LLC
Formerly
  • JAM Software, Inc. (1984–1989)
  • Naughty Dog, Inc. (1989–2015)
Company typeSubsidiary
IndustryVideo games
Founded1984; 40 years ago (1984) in McLean, Virginia, US
Founders
Headquarters
Santa Monica, California
,
US
Key people
Products
Number of employees
400+[1] (July 2023)
ParentPlayStation Studios (2001–present)
Websitenaughtydog.com

Naughty Dog, LLC (formerly JAM Software, Inc.[2][3]) is an American first-party video game developer based in Santa Monica, California.[4] Founded by Andy Gavin and Jason Rubin in 1984,[2] the studio was acquired by Sony Computer Entertainment in 2001. Gavin and Rubin produced a sequence of progressively more successful games, including Rings of Power and Way of the Warrior in the early 1990s. The latter game prompted Universal Interactive Studios to sign the duo to a three-title contract and fund the expansion of the company.

After designer and producer Mark Cerny convinced Naughty Dog to create a character-based platform game that would use the 3D capabilities of the new systems, Naughty Dog created Crash Bandicoot for the PlayStation in 1996. Naughty Dog developed three Crash Bandicoot games over the next several years. After developing Crash Team Racing, the company began working on Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy for the PlayStation 2.

In 2004, Rubin, who had become the company's president, left the company to work on a new project, Iron and the Maiden.[5][6] In addition to their inhouse game team, Naughty Dog is also home to the ICE Team,[7] one of PlayStation Studios's central technology groups.[8] The company's first PlayStation 3 game, Uncharted: Drake's Fortune, was released in 2007, followed by several sequels and spin-off titles. This lasted until Naughty Dog announced a new intellectual 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 which spawned a franchise. The Last of Us Part II was released for the PlayStation 4 in 2020 to similar acclaim.

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference Evan Wells Retirement was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ a b Moriarty, Colin (October 4, 2013). "Rising to Greatness: The History of Naughty Dog". IGN. Ziff Davis. p. 1. Archived from the original on April 1, 2015. Retrieved January 25, 2014.
  3. ^ Moriarty, Colin (October 4, 2013). "Rising to Greatness: The History of Naughty Dog". IGN. Ziff Davis. p. 3. Archived from the original on March 4, 2021. Retrieved January 25, 2014.
  4. ^ "Time Line." Naughty Dog. June 4, 2004. Retrieved on May 5, 2010.
  5. ^ "Jason Rubin set to exit Naughty Dog". gamesindustry.biz. Archived from the original on July 13, 2005. Retrieved April 14, 2018.
  6. ^ Klepek, Patrick. "Jason Rubin's Next Game". 1UP.com. Archived from the original on June 29, 2011. Retrieved March 16, 2014.
  7. ^ Mark Cerny's "Road to the PS4" @ Gamelab 2013 Archived December 5, 2016, at the Wayback Machine. YouTube (June 27, 2013). Retrieved on July 16, 2013.
  8. ^ Walker, Candace (October 15, 2007). "Programmer Search @ Naughty Dog!". Archived from the original on March 9, 2021. Retrieved September 28, 2015.