Just one day after it was reported that Naughty Dog was letting go of around 25 people comes news of a major member of the studio leaving. Principal monetization designer Anders Howard, who joined the developer back in 2022, has left after just 11 months. He worked specifically on game systems design and product leadership on The Last of Us multiplayer game that seems to be in trouble at Naughty Dog.
The departure was first spotted online by a Twitter user.
Prior to joining Naughty Dog, Howard had worked for both Ubisoft and Epic Games. During his time at Epic Games, he was a systems designer on Fortnite where he “helped form the core of Battle Pass progression strategy, delivering overwhelming value for that product to as many players as possible.”
Insider Gaming has reached out to Howard for comment on his departure and will update this story should a response be received.
What do you think of all these changes happening at Naughty Dog right now, specifically around The Last of Us multiplayer game? Let us know in the comments below.
For more Insider Gaming, check out the latest on the upcoming Harry Potter: Quidditch Champions game from Ubisoft.
Probably cancelled at this point. Are similar problems happening at other PlayStation studios? We’ve seen nothing from Bluepoint in a while, Sucker Punch, Bend, and outside them nothing about Stellar Blade release date. KOTOR remake being cancelled probably also looks bad for them.