Former Naughty Dog game director Vinit Agarwal has announced he is off to Japan to start his own studio.
Agarwal was at Naughty Dog for a decade, before he departed the company in January of this year. During his time at the studio, he worked on both the Uncharted and The Last of Us series. Most recently, he was director of Naughty Dog’s cancelled standalone The Last of Us online multiplayer.
Sharing a “couple of life updates” on social media last night, Agarwal said: “Moving to Japan tomorrow. Also forming a game studio – more on that soon!”
While the developer did not share any further specifics on exactly what he will be working on when his new studio takes shape, in an earlier exchange on social media Agarwal said he would continue to make multiplayer games following The Last of Us online’s cancellation, as that is what he is “passionate about”.
Naughty Dog’s multiplayer game was initially planned to be part of The Last of Us Part 2, but in 2019 the studio announced its sequel would release as a solo experience, with a multiplayer aspect planned to arrive at a later date. However, following word the studio needed more time on the project, Naughty Dog ultimately cancelled The Last of Us’ online multiplayer release in 2023. At this time, the developer said it didn’t want to become a “solely live service games studio”.
Agarwal subsequently announced he was leaving Naughty Dog in January of this year. Sharing an update on LinkedIn, Agarwal said he was grateful for his decade at the studio, but the time had come for a “new adventure” and to make “something of [his] own”. The former studio director then thanked his colleagues and mentors, namechecking Robert Cogburn, Erin Daly, Bruce Straley, Neil Druckmann and Evan Wells. Of those named, only Druckmann remains at Naughty Dog now.
Druckmann himself is currently working on Naughty Dog’s all new game, Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet, having recently stepped back from The Last of Us TV adaptation to focus on the studio. While we still don’t know a huge amount about Naughty Dog’s upcoming release, the studio head revealed in March it has topics of “faith and religion”.
Earlier this year, the star of Naughty Dog’s upcoming game said she’d received preparation for the role – and specifically the online reaction to it – from Druckmann himself, following the online abuse previously kicked up around The Last of Us Part 2.
