• *** This article contains ZERO spoilers for The Last of Us Part 2 ***
• A disgruntled Naughty Dog employee posted story elements and video cutscenes

As fans persistently heap praise upon the industry’s most prominent franchises, the dark and secret underbelly of video game development continues to grow. For decades, companies embraced the questionable labor practice of “crunch.” Simply put, crunch is a situation in which companies pressure salaried employees to work an insurmountable number of overtime hours without additional compensation. While most tolerate this custom, a select few have been more outspoken. But on Monday, an employee from a well-known “crunch” organization had enough and leaked details about one of the most anticipated games of 2020: The Last of Us Part 2.

Someone’s Been a Bad Dog

To say that Naughty Dog has experienced challenges over the last two months is an understatement. It began in early March with a large editorial piece from former Kotaku journalist Jason Schreier. Within the article, Jason analyzes a series of quotes from anonymous Naughty Dog employees regarding the stressful culture of crunch. The quotes below emphasize the stress that multiple employees felt as they raced to finish The Last of Us Part 2.

This game is really good, but at a huge cost to the people.

Anonymous Naughty Dog Employee to Kotaku

You feel obligated to be there later, because everyone else is there later.

Anonymous Naughty Dog Employee to Kotaku

Just three weeks later, Naughty Dog announced that it was delaying the game indefinitely. As fans praised the company for “taking its time” with development, the pressure on the internal staff grew. No longer having the finish line of a release date, employees now faced an indefinite period of crunch.

Fast forward to April 27th, and one particular employee had enough. Claiming that Naughty Dog was withholding a paycheck, the disgruntled employee stormed to social media and leaked the entire story of The Last of Us Part 2. In addition, the leaker also posted video cutscenes that revealed major plot twists. Needless to say, the content put the social media world in a frenzy as Naughty Dog continued to trend worldwide on multiple platforms.

Conclusion

As Naughty Dog attempts to put the proverbial “cat” back in the bag, the damage is irreparable. For many fans, they cannot go back in time and “unspoil” the game. But for the disgruntled Naughty Dog employee, they also cannot go back in time and recoup the long hours of unpaid overtime. The bombshell of spoiled content is yet another sign that all is not well within the confines of the video game industry’s culture of “crunch.” Out of respect for our community, we will not post links to any of the leaked content. We strongly recommend staying away from social media threads as fans are continuing to post spoiler videos and narrative threads.

But we want to know what you think. Are you disappointed that an employee leaked the entire story for The Last of Us Part 2? When do you think that Naughty Dog will release the game? Let us know in the comments below or the social media links on the right. Also, be sure to check out our other news items on Final Fantasy VII Remake, Animal Crossing, Modern Warfare, and more.

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