Naughty Dog is an American video game developer that was founded in 1984 by Andy Gavin and Jason Rubin. Based in Santa Monica, California, Naughty Dog was originally known as JAM Software until 1989, and began producing games for the Apple II system. Their first release, Math Jam, was an educational game for the system which Gavin and Rubin self-published in 1986. The following year, Jam developed the skiing game Ski Crazed, which was published by Michigan-based company Baudville for the Apple II. The partnership with Baudville continued for Dream Zone , an adventure game released for the Apple IIGS as well as the Amiga, Atari ST and DOS in 1988, before they left to work with Electronic Arts on Keef the Thief and Rings of Power . After a brief hiatus, Way of the Warrior was released for the 3DO in 1994, before Naughty Dog partnered with Sony Computer Entertainment, by whom they were later acquired in 2001.
Naughty Dog is known for developing the Crash Bandicoot series for Sony's PlayStation console. After launching the series with the first title in 1996, Naughty Dog developed sequels Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back and Crash Bandicoot: Warped , as well as spin-off Crash Team Racing , before their partnership with distributor Universal Interactive Studios ended. Two years after the release of Crash Team Racing, Naughty Dog returned in 2001 with a title for the PlayStation 2, Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy , which spawned the Jak and Daxter series, it includes the sequels Jak II and Jak 3 and the spin-off Jak X: Combat Racing . The developer's next series was Uncharted , which consists of four main titles— Drake's Fortune (2007), Among Thieves (2009), Drake's Deception (2011), and A Thief's End (2016), and a standalone expansion, The Lost Legacy , (2017). Naughty Dog's most recent new intellectual property is The Last of Us , released for the PlayStation 3 in 2013 and for the PlayStation 4 as The Last of Us Remastered in 2014: a downloadable expansion, Left Behind , was released for the PlayStation 3 in 2014; a sequel, The Last of Us Part II , was released in 2020; a remake, The Last of Us Part I , was released for PlayStation 5 in 2022, and for Windows in March 2023.
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Math Jam Original release date(s): 1986 | Release years by system: 1986 – Apple II |
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Original release date(s): October 1987 | Release years by system: 1987 – Apple II |
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Original release date(s): 1988 | Release years by system: 1988 – Apple IIGS, DOS, Amiga, Atari ST [3] |
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Original release date(s): 1989 [2] | Release years by system: 1989 – Amiga, Apple IIGS, DOS [1] |
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Original release date(s): January 1992 | Release years by system: 1992 – Sega Mega Drive/Genesis |
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Original release date(s): August 30, 1994 [1] | Release years by system: 1994 – 3DO [2] |
Notes: Fighting game published by Universal Interactive Studios [2] | |
Original release dates: | Release years by system: 1996 – PlayStation [1] 2007 – PlayStation 3, PlayStation Portable [4] 2012 – PlayStation Vita [5] |
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Original release dates: | Release years by system: 1997 – PlayStation [1] 2007 – PlayStation 3, PlayStation Portable [8] 2012 – PlayStation Vita [5] |
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Original release dates: | Release years by system: 1998 – PlayStation [1] 2008 – PlayStation 3, PlayStation Portable [9] 2012 – PlayStation Vita [5] |
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Original release dates: | Release years by system: 1999 – PlayStation [1] 2007 – PlayStation 3, PlayStation Portable [11] 2012 – PlayStation Vita [5] |
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Original release dates: | Release years by system: 2001 – PlayStation 2 [1] |
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Original release dates: | Release years by system: 2003 – PlayStation 2 [1] |
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Original release dates: | Release years by system: 2004 – PlayStation 2 [1] |
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Original release dates: | Release years by system: 2005 – PlayStation 2 [1] |
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Original release dates: | Release years by system: 2007 – PlayStation 3 [21] [22] |
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Original release dates: | Release years by system: 2009 – PlayStation 3 [24] [25] [26] |
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Original release dates: | Release years by system: 2011 – PlayStation 3 [28] [27] [29] |
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Original release date(s): June 14, 2013 [30] | Release years by system: 2013 – PlayStation 3 [30] |
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Original release date(s): February 14, 2014 [32] | Release years by system: 2014 – PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4 [32] [33] |
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Original release dates: | Release years by system: 2014 – PlayStation 4 [33] [35] [36] |
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Original release date: May 10, 2016 [37] | Release years by system: 2016 – PlayStation 4 [37] |
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Original release date(s): | Release years by system: 2017 – PlayStation 4 [38] |
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Original release date(s): June 19, 2020 [39] | Release years by system: 2020 – PlayStation 4 [39] |
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Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves Collection Original release date(s): January 28, 2022 [40] | Release years by system: 2022 – PlayStation 5, Windows [40] [41] |
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Original release date(s): September 2, 2022 [42] | Release years by system: 2022 – PlayStation 5 [42] 2023 – Windows [43] |
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Original release date(s): January 19, 2024 | Release years by system: 2024 – PlayStation 5 [44] |
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Jak and Daxter is an action-adventure video game franchise created by Andy Gavin and Jason Rubin and owned by Sony Interactive Entertainment. The series was originally developed by Naughty Dog with a number of installments being outsourced to Ready at Dawn and High Impact Games. The first game, Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy, released on December 3, 2001, was one of the earliest titles for the PlayStation 2, and is regarded as a defining franchise for the console.
Mark Evan Cerny is an American video game designer, programmer, producer and media proprietor.
Crash Bandicoot: Warped, known in Europe as Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped, is a 1998 platform game developed by Naughty Dog and published by Sony Computer Entertainment for the PlayStation. It is the third game in the Crash Bandicoot video game series following Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back.
Crash Bash is a 2000 party video game developed by Eurocom Entertainment Software in association with Cerny Games and published by Sony Computer Entertainment for the PlayStation. It is the fifth title in the Crash Bandicoot series and the first in the party genre. The game includes a collection of 28 mini-games playable within three modes of gameplay, as well as eight playable characters from the Crash Bandicoot series.
Naughty Dog, LLC is an American first-party video game developer based in Santa Monica, California. Founded by Andy Gavin and Jason Rubin in 1984, the studio was acquired by Sony Computer Entertainment in 2001. Gavin and Rubin produced a sequence of progressively more successful games, including Rings of Power and Way of the Warrior in the early 1990s. The latter game prompted Universal Interactive Studios to sign the duo to a three-title contract and fund the expansion of the company.
Jak II is an action-adventure video game developed by Naughty Dog and published by Sony Computer Entertainment for the PlayStation 2 in 2003. It is the second game of the Jak and Daxter series and both a sequel and prequel to Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy. It was followed by Jak 3 the following year in 2004.
Crash Bandicoot is the title character and main protagonist of the Crash Bandicoot series. Introduced in the 1996 video game Crash Bandicoot, Crash is a mutant eastern barred bandicoot who was genetically enhanced by the series' main antagonist Doctor Neo Cortex and soon escaped from Cortex's castle after a failed experiment in the "Cortex Vortex". Throughout the series, Crash acts as the opposition against Cortex and his schemes for world domination. While Crash has a number of offensive maneuvers at his disposal, his most distinctive technique is one in which he spins like a tornado at high speeds and knocks away almost anything that he strikes.
Crash Bandicoot is a video game franchise originally developed by Naughty Dog as an exclusive for Sony's PlayStation console. It has seen numerous installments created by various developers and published on multiple platforms. The series consists predominantly of platform games, but also includes spin-offs in the kart racing and party game genres. The series was originally produced by Universal Interactive, which later became known as Vivendi Games; in 2008, Vivendi merged with Activision, which currently owns and publishes the franchise.
Uncharted: Drake's Fortune is a 2007 action-adventure game developed by Naughty Dog and published by Sony Computer Entertainment. It is the first game in the Uncharted series and was released in November 2007 for PlayStation 3. The game follows Nathan Drake, the supposed descendant of explorer Sir Francis Drake, as he searches for the lost treasure of El Dorado with journalist Elena Fisher and mentor Victor Sullivan.
Crash Bandicoot is a 1996 platform video game developed by Naughty Dog and published by Sony Computer Entertainment for the PlayStation. The player controls Crash, a genetically enhanced bandicoot created by the mad scientist Doctor Neo Cortex. The story follows Crash as he aims to foil Cortex's plans for world domination and rescue his girlfriend Tawna, a female bandicoot also created by Cortex. The game is played from a third-person perspective in which the camera trails behind Crash, though some levels feature forward-scrolling and side-scrolling perspectives.
Jason Rubin is an American video game director, writer, and comic book creator. He is best known for the Crash Bandicoot and Jak and Daxter series of games which were produced by Naughty Dog, the game development studio he co-founded with partner and childhood friend Andy Gavin in 1986. He was the president of THQ before its closure due to bankruptcy on January 23, 2013. Rubin is the vice president of Metaverse Content at Meta Platforms.
PlayStation Move Heroes, known in Japan as Gachinko Heroes, is a 2011 action-adventure video game developed by Nihilistic Software and published by Sony Computer Entertainment for the PlayStation 3 video game console utilizing the PlayStation Move. It is a crossover of the Ratchet & Clank, Jak and Daxter, and Sly Cooper franchises to form a total of six main characters.
Sony has released a number of previously released PlayStation video games, remastered in high-definition (HD) for their newer consoles, a form of porting. A number of related programs exist, the most prominent two being "Classics HD" and "PSP Remasters". The former consists of multiple PlayStation 2 games compiled on one Blu-ray Disc. The latter are individual PlayStation Portable games republished on Blu-ray. These games are not direct ports, but remastered versions in high-definition, to take advantage of the newer consoles' capabilities. The remastering of the games include updated graphics, new textures, and Trophy support, and some of the remastered games released on PlayStation 3 have included 3D and PlayStation Move support. Some HD remasters have also been released individually or in bundles as downloads on the PlayStation Store; others are released exclusively as downloads.
The Last of Us is a 2013 action-adventure game developed by Naughty Dog and published by Sony Computer Entertainment. Players control Joel, a smuggler tasked with escorting a teenage girl, Ellie, across a post-apocalyptic United States. The Last of Us is played from a third-person perspective. Players use firearms and improvised weapons and can use stealth to defend against hostile humans and cannibalistic creatures infected by a mutated fungus. In the online multiplayer mode, up to eight players engage in cooperative and competitive gameplay.
Jak and Daxter Collection is a 2012 collection of the remastered ports of the first three games in the Jak and Daxter series. The remasters were developed by Mass Media Games, with grounds on the originals by Naughty Dog, and published by Sony Computer Entertainment.
Uncharted 4: A Thief's End is a 2016 action-adventure game developed by Naughty Dog and published by Sony Computer Entertainment. It is the fourth main entry in the Uncharted series. Set several years after the events of Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception, players control Nathan Drake, a former treasure hunter coaxed out of retirement by his presumed-dead brother Samuel. With Nathan's longtime partner, Victor Sullivan, they search for clues to the location of Henry Avery's long-lost treasure. A Thief's End is played from a third-person perspective, and incorporates platformer elements. Players solve puzzles and use firearms, melee combat, and stealth to combat enemies. In the online multiplayer mode, up to ten players engage in co-operative and competitive modes.
Bruce Straley is an American game director, artist, designer, and studio director. He previously worked for the video game developer Naughty Dog, known for his work in the video games The Last of Us and Uncharted 4: A Thief's End. Straley's first video game work was as an artist at Western Technologies Inc, where he worked on the Menacer six-game cartridge (1992) and X-Men (1993). Following this, he formed a company, Pacific Softscape, where he worked as a designer on Generations Lost (1994). After the company disbanded, Straley was eventually hired at Crystal Dynamics, where he worked as a designer on Gex: Enter the Gecko (1998) and was initially game director for Gex 3: Deep Cover Gecko (1999); he left the company partway through development of the latter.
Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy is a 2017 platform game developed by Vicarious Visions and published by Activision. It is a compilation of remasters of the first three games in the Crash Bandicoot series: Crash Bandicoot (1996), Cortex Strikes Back (1997), and Warped (1998); which were originally developed by Naughty Dog for the PlayStation. Initially released for the PlayStation 4, it was later ported to Nintendo Switch, Windows, and Xbox One in 2018. N. Sane Trilogy received generally positive reviews from critics and sold over 10 million copies by February 2019.
Evan Wells is an American video game designer and programmer and co-president of Naughty Dog. Wells' first video game was at Sega, where he worked on ToeJam & Earl in Panic on Funkotron, before moving to Crystal Dynamics in 1995 to work on Gex and Gex: Enter the Gecko. He was employed at Naughty Dog in 1998, working on several Crash Bandicoot and Jak and Daxter titles before becoming co-president of the company alongside Stephen White in 2005; White was replaced the following year by Christophe Balestra, who retired in 2017. The two oversaw the release of the Uncharted series, and The Last of Us. Wells remained the sole president, overseeing the release of The Last of Us Part II, until Neil Druckmann's promotion to co-president in 2020. Wells announced his retirement in 2023.
PlayStation Productions, LLC is an American production company owned by Sony Interactive Entertainment.