In Wake Of Uncharted Finale, Naughty Dog Co-President Retires

Within 24 hours of Naughty Dog sharing that its upcoming expansion for Uncharted 4: A Thief's End will likely be its last Uncharted product, co-president Christophe Balestra has announced his retirement.

The news was delivered in the form of a blog post on the official Naughty Dog site, which includes:

 

Twelve years ago, when Evan and I became Co-Presidents, Naughty Dog was facing a challenging future with the transition to a new platform while developing a new engine and an entirely new franchise simultaneously. Looking back and seeing where we managed to take the studio in just over a decade is undoubtedly my biggest professional achievement. Evan has been the perfect partner and I couldn’t imagine achieving the success we’ve had without him. It’s been a privilege to work with you, my friend.

Thanks from the bottom of my heart to everyone I worked with during the last fifteen years, it’s just been incredible.

And to all the fans… I know what’s in store and, with Evan leading the best team on the planet as President, I know that Naughty Dog will continue to blow you away!

Christophe has worked on the Uncharted franchise from its early beginning, getting his start in 2002 as Senior Programmer. He would work his way up the chain by becoming Lead Programmer, Programming Director, and Vice President of Technology before earning the position of Co-President in 2007, the same year Uncharted: Drake's Fortune debuted.

Like many critically acclaimed AAA franchises, Uncharted has a notoriously challenging development process that requires long work weeks from employees, particularly when milestones are imminent. For many it's exhausting, although made easier by relaxed company culture and strong support systems.

Christophe's departure, along other notable team member including Amy Hennig, raises questions as to where Naughty Dog will go from here. Equipped with one of the most prestigious reputations in the industry, it will easily be able to hire some of the best talent in the industry. What it will do with that talent is yet to be determined.

You can read the full post here.

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