TLOU Multiplayer's Principal Monetization Designer Quit Naughty Dog

Anders Howard, the former Principal Monetization Designer for The Last of Us multiplayer spin-off, recently drew attention due to his LinkedIn profile.

The profile reveals that he parted ways with the studio in September, having worked for the company for 11 months. Howard joined Naughty Dog in November 2022, following an eight-year tenure at Epic Games where he contributed to Fortnite and its monetization systems. Later, he spent ten months at Ubisoft before joining Naughty Dog. His expertise revolved around game systems design and product leadership, particularly in relation to The Last of Us multiplayer game.

Although Howard's next career move remains unknown, there has been no official comment from him regarding his departure from Naughty Dog. Apart from a tweet that initially appeared ambiguous but now makes sense, as well as a change to his status on Twitter.

It is worth noting that Kotaku reported on October 3 that the development of Factions, the multiplayer mode, had effectively halted, and at least 25 employees' contracts at Naughty Dog would be terminated by the end of October. It is plausible that Howard was among the affected employees.

Speaking of this big wave of layoffs that is happening in the gaming industry, recently Epic Games has terminated contracts with 870 employees, which is around 16% of the company's entire workforce. Tim Sweeney, the CEO of Epic Games, shared that the company has been operating at a financial deficit for an extended period, prompting the need for these layoffs. Another company that downsized its workers is Activision Blizzard, which laid off several employees from the Hearthstone team in a bout of restructurization.

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