Raf Grassetti Joins Naughty Dog For The Upcoming Game

If you're a Naughty Dog fan, then there are reasons for you to be excited. Even though the studio hasn't released a new game for a while, apart from remakes and remasters, the news about Naughty Dog developing two new games has just got even better. This time, former Santa Monica Studio's art director Raf Grassetti has a role to play in it. And this time, we can only hope that something truly amazing has emerged from this.

Rafael Grassetti, who formerly worked as the art director at Santa Monica Studio, has joined Naughty Dog, the studio responsible for The Last of Us. Over his ten years at Santa Monica Studio, Grassetti oversaw art direction for God of War Ragnarök and God of War 4 (2018). He moved from Sony last year to take charge of the art department of a Netflix studio called Blue, which has been recently shut down, where he had been collaborating on an original AAA game across platforms with former Overwatch executive producer Choco Sunny and Halo veteran Joseph Staten, among others.

Grassetti said Monday that he is back at Sony, beginning a new chapter with Naughty Dog. In case you were unaware, creative director and head of Naughty Dog firm Neil Druckmann said in July that the firm was working on a plethora of games, including many single-player titles. It has been announced that Troy Baker, the American voice actor and musician, will have a part in Naughty Dog's next game, which reportedly focuses on player freedom as well.

This announcement of such a talented artist leaving Santa Monica Studio and joining Naughty Dog is incredible for the Naughty Dog fans. Someone whose abilities and qualities we have witnessed firsthand will undoubtedly contribute to the next Naughty Dog project, but obviously, the upcoming God of War games will miss his absence. It will be interesting to see their creativity unfold now that Raf Grassetti is part of the team. Since we are all aware of Naughty Dog's ability, we're hoping that they will soon unveil a new project that is neither a remake nor a remaster; since The Last of Us: Part II, Naughty Dog hasn't released any new project.

While we previously reported that Naughty Dog is working on two different games, we can only hope for more news about their upcoming game in the coming months if not revealed within a few days at The Game Awards 2024 event. There are no guarantees, however, since they scrapped The Last of Us Online, a project that had a large portion of their finances and staff invested in it.