‘I can step away feeling confident about [the studio’s] future’
After 15 years with Naughty Dog, co-president Christophe Balestra is stepping away from the studio.
“I am doing it now out of utmost respect for the team and their unwavering dedication to Naughty Dog and our projects,” he shared in a message posted today on the company website. “The time has come for me to now spend more time with my family and create a void to see what I can fill it with (which will obviously involve programming).” His last day is set for April 3, 2017.
Balestra also reminisced about his decade and a half with the Uncharted and Last of Us studio. Back in 2002, he came on board as a programmer because he was “excited to join the team that created Crash Bandicoot and Jak & Daxter.” The appeal, he says, “was working with the team responsible for games I love to play, ones that also looked stunning and were technically ahead of their time.”
“Our ‘secret’ is and, always will be, the talent and drive of the whole team at Naughty Dog,” he explained. “That’s why I can step away feeling confident about the future of Naughty Dog — because the team is only losing only one of its many members.”
Next up, we’ve got Uncharted: The Lost Legacy and The Last of Us Part II. After that? I’m dying to know. As for Naughty Dog’s fellow co-president, Evan Wells, he’s not going anywhere.
A Message from Co-President Christophe Balestra [Naughty Dog]
