Naughty Dog veteran Bruce Straley departed the company almost five years ago, having burned out on AAA development following the release of Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End. The co-director is perhaps best known for his collaboration with Neil Druckmann on The Last of Us, which went on to become one of Sony’s best ever games. It’s getting remade for the PS5 later this year.
Straley, having taken some time out, is now back with a new company: Wildflower Interactive. As part of an introduction video, he explained that the developer has an “exciting partner that supports what we’re doing and is going to help us reach the broadest audience possible”. As it recruits more employees, it’s also hoping to establish a new workplace culture.
The website explains: “We’re building a small, open-hearted team of creators that want to improve their skills and still lead a good life outside of work. People that want to hone their craft, have a say in the process, feel respected for their contributions, and be a part of the evolution of this awesome medium.”
Straley stopped short of sharing specific details about any particular game, but did mention that what it’s working on is unlike anything you’ve ever played before. The studio mentions multiple projects, however, so it’ll be interesting to see what comes of all this. In the meantime, you can check out the team’s pretty neat website through here.
[source wildflowergames.com]
Comments 18
A new company promoting itself. The world has gone mad.
Former industry veteran leaves their old studio, goes on to form a new studio, then proceeds to boast they are "working on a game unlike anything you have ever played before."
You see this all the time from these people, then they eventually release their game and it's like every other game out there. I understand that he wants people to take notice of this new studio and everything, but don't start trying to hype a game you can't show yet (people will inevitably do this anyways).
Stressful and, yes, even toxic workplaces create great art. Friction fuels creativity. Get a bunch of ‘open hearted’ blah blah grains n granola people together and the result is almost guaranteed to be safe and bland.
@CVCubbington What a dreadful take. Treating people with respect in the workplace helps create a happier workforce.
@CVCubbington Toxic, no... Hardworking yes. I'm sick of this idea that no one should work overtime since then it creates a sense of obligation that others work overtime. If you want to be great, then it takes hard work. If you work at Naughty Dog, who make some of the most detailed games in existence, then it takes sacrifice. Imagine if someone told Michael Jordan he could only play basketball x amount of hours a day.
@nessisonett Eh, I’m still correct.
@CVCubbington No, you really aren’t. There are a million studies done into this. Latest one from Warwick Uni showed that workers are 12% more productive when they’re happy and treated with respect. It’s a stupid fallacy perpetuated by so called ‘enfant terribles’ of industries who think that bullying people is acceptable as long as they get results.
@CVCubbington Just because great art has come from stressful/toxic environments doesn't mean that the two have a causal relationship. Correlation != causation. There are plenty of recent examples of outstanding games coming from more employee-friendly studios (like Cuphead).
I get your point, but it's the same logical fallacy as people assuming they work better under stress or near a deadline. I think that the nature of the modern games industry often means that AAA games are almost impossible to deliver in a reasonable time without crunch, but again, that's not proof of any causal relationship.
@OptionalStealth Amazon was founded by a bald man, therefore all businesses should be founded by bald men in order to be successful.
Straley and Hennig represent peak Naughty Dog to me.
I don't know what Bruce Starley is up to these days but if I was him I would start a new video game studio to make a game unlike any before.
@CVCubbington Remedy, Supergiant, MDHR, Double Fine; just four studios from the top of my head that try and avoid crunch and create a healthy non toxic work environment, and also happen to create brilliantly creative games.
Meanwhile, toxicity at work and crunch resulted in respectively Battlefield 2042 and Cyberpunk. Try again.
This'll go on Game Pass, then. That's the widest, broadest audience. But I'm not there, so it's also the worst 🤔
Welcome back Bruce, excited to see what your teams making
Great to have Bruce back, there’s been too much brain drain of top talent in the industry lately, we want the best in this industry.
How long till Sony make an offer
Unlike his old studio who are making the same game for the third time...
Happy to hear, looking forward to whatever games they announce, as long as they aren't multiplayer or filled with microtransactions.
@HeeHo I honestly blame Neil for that
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