Rafael Grassetti, a seasoned artist who worked as an art director in bothGod of War (2018)and its sequel,God of War: Ragnarök, has recently made a surprise announcementon his personal Twitter/X account.
🐾 new chapterpic.twitter.com/97uKQ2YstI
That’s right, with a cryptic but exciting message that simply says “New chapter”, Grassetti officially announced that he has joined Naughty Dog, the famous Sony developer behind great games likeUnchartedorThe Last of Us. While he didn’t specify what his new role at the studio is, he’s most likely going to keep working as an artist, possibly even as an art director, in one of its upcoming games.
After all, Grassetti has not only worked as art director in the two most recentGod of Wargames (Both of which were constantly praised for their beautiful art), buthe also worked as a character artist in multiple other projects, likeThe Order: 1886,Killzone: Shadow FallandMass Effect 3.His personal LinkedInalso reveals that he left Santa Monica Studio back in May 2023 before joiningNetflix’s failed AAA game studio, which shut down back in October.
Fortunately for Grassetti, he was able to return to another one of Sony’s many subsidiaries. Considering that people often praise Naughty Dog’s games for their excellent art direction and that Grassetti has proven how talented he is over and over, he seems like a perfect fit for the studio, and whatever project he’ll eventually work on will certainly benefit from his skills.
So, what exactly is Naughty Dog working on now?
Rafael Grassetti’s new position at Naughty Dog is exciting, but it also left us with one big question: What exactly is he going to work on now? After all, the studio has focused mainly on theThe Last of UsIP in the last few years, including a PS5 remake ofPart 1and a PS5 remaster ofPart 2that came out in January 2024. The series’ creator and director,Neil Druckmann has even hinted that he’s already working on a potentialThe Last of Us Part 3.
But, the problem is that Naughty Dog has most likely been working on a third entry in theThe Last of Usfranchise for a very long time. Considering that art direction is usually one of the first steps of the game development process, it’s extremely unlikely that the studio exclusively hired Grassetti so he can work on the art ofThe Last of Us Part 3, meaning that it’s possible he’s already working on its next big project.
What is this video game going to be? Nobody knows, but many people have accused Naughty Dog of focusing too much on theLast of Usseries since at least 2020, so maybe it’s time for it to unveil a brand-new IP,not to mention that Druckmann has already hinted that this is exactly what they’re doing. After all, this is the studio that brought us classic franchises likeCrash Bandicoot,Jak & DaxterandUncharted, so it would be both fascinating and refreshing to see what its developers can do now, especially with a talented artist like Grassetti in the art director’s chair.
