Fortnite’s Senior Systems Designer, Anders Howard, has moved to Naughty Dog as a Principal Monetization Designer according to his LinkedIn profile. The move comes after 7 and a half years at Epic Epic, followed by a brief 10-month stint at Ubisoft Stockholm.
Howard was responsible to help “form the core of Battle Pass progression strategy, delivering overwhelming value for that product to as many players as possible”, his LinkedIn reads.
Howard’s move comes as Naughty Dog continues its development of a new multiplayer-based project in The Last of Us universe.
The game was officially revealed at Summer Game Fest in the summer, with The Last of Us creator Neil Druckmann saying that more of this “very unique” experience will be revealed in 2023.
“What started out as a multiplayer mode has evolved because of the team’s ambition. They really wanted to do something we’ve never done before at Naughty Dog, and we felt the way to do it justice was to make it a standalone title. They’ve been working on it for the past two years, and ambition has grown, but we’re not quite ready to unveil it yet.”, Druckmann said on the project.
Previous job listings have suggested that the game will be a free-to-play experience, with Howard’s hiring suggesting the development team is working on strategies to monetize the title. Howard’s hiring could suggest that the team is leaning towards a Battle Pass system and Seasons, which has become commonplace among games in the last several years (mostly in part to Fortnite).
No more official details have yet been provided on The Last of Us multiplayer, but hopefully, it won’t be long until we hear more! Are you looking forward to seeing what Naughty Dog are cooking up?
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