In 2001, Naughty Dog became part of Sony Corporation, under whose wing it created the Uncharted and The Last of Us game series. Twenty-three years later, the studio's co-founder Andrew Gavin explained in a LinkedIn post what prompted his team to make the deal with Sony.
Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet
According to the top manager, the main reason for the sale was the growth of game budgets. At the dawn of Naughty Dog [the studio was founded in 1984. — Ed. note], development costs were quite manageable, but over time, creating new projects became increasingly expensive. This put tremendous stress on the studio's staff. Naughty Dog was worried that a single misstep could leave them with empty pockets.
Becoming a subsidiary of Sony relieved Naughty Dog of the financial burden. The studio knew that if needed, they would be provided with resources, and a potential game failure wouldn't be a total catastrophe.
To illustrate his point, Gavin provided some figures:
- In the early 1980s, Naughty Dog spent less than $50,000 on game development;
- During the development of Rings of Power (1988-1991), expenses grew to $100,000. Fortunately, the game's profits were slightly higher. The money earned was enough to create Way of the Warrior, which was released in 1994;
- The budget for the first Crash Bandicoot, developed between 1994 and 1996, reached $1.6 million;
- Over the next few years, expenses increased even more. As a result, the budget for Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy (1999-2001) exceeded $15 million;
- By 2004, development costs for games like Jak 3 soared to $45-50 million.
"Looking back, it's clear that it was the right decision. Since then, AAA games have only grown more expensive. Nowadays, they can easily cost $300, $400, even $500 million. Could we have kept up? Possibly. However, the sale—to the right side—gave Naughty Dog the stability needed to thrive and continue creating the games we've always dreamed of," said Gavin.