Former Sony Santa Monica developer Raf Grassetti has joined Naughty Dog, likely to contribute to the studio's next big project.
He made the announcement himself via X (formerly Twitter), posting the phrase "New chapter" accompanied by an image of the Naughty Dog logo.
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Grassetti had served as lead art director on Sony Santa Monica’s “God of War,” as well as art director on “God of War Ragnarok.” After a decade at the studio, he left in 2023 to take the lead art position on a AAA project at Netflix Games, codenamed Team Blue. There, he worked with prominent industry figures such as “Halo Infinite” creative director Joe Staten and former “Overwatch” executive producer Chacko Sonny.
However, in October 2023, Team Blue disbanded after mass layoffs, leading to the cancellation of the mysterious AAA project it had undertaken.
See more: Naughty Dog: Working on “Brand-New” Single-player Games!
It's unclear which Naughty Dog game Grassetti will be working on or what his role will be at the studio. Naughty Dog co-president and "The Last of Us" director Neil Druckmann confirmed earlier this year that the studio is working on "multiple single-player projects.".
Although development remains secret, recent information from MinnMax founder Ben Hanson revealed that a reliable source, who had worked on the project, said that the game will offer players "a lot of freedom."
Naughty Dog also had a multiplayer spin-off of “The Last of Us” in the works, which was in development for four years. However, the project was canceled in December 2023 due to concerns that it could negatively impact the studio’s future single-player games.
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Source: techradar
