Award-winning video game animator, Jonathan Cooper, has announced his departure from Naughty Dog. In a brief tweet, Cooper merely mentioned that he has decided to part ways with the developer, and although the resignation seemingly came hot on the heels of The Last of Us Part II‘s delay, his LinkedIn profile suggests that he left Naughty Dog in September.
I’ve decide to part ways with Naughty Dog.
I’m thankful to have contributed to the PS4 era of this storied studio, and I wish them luck in their future endeavours.
— Jonathan Cooper (@GameAnim) October 26, 2019
Out of his games industry career spanning nearly two decades, Cooper spent five years with Naughty Dog where he animated Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End, Uncharted: The Lost Legacy, and The Last of Us Part II. Prior to this, he worked on Assassin’s Creed III at Ubisoft, Mass Effect 2 at BioWare, and was a lead animator on Deus Ex: Human Revolution at Eidos Montreal during the game’s pre-production period.
We wish Cooper the best of luck in his future endeavors.
A month after its highly-anticipated release date announcement, The Last of Us Part II was delayed by a few months. According to Director Neil Druckmann, it wasn’t until work was being wrapped up on the game that the developers realized they needed more time to “bring the entire game up to a level of polish we would call Naughty Dog quality.”
Druckmann’s explanation of the delay was met with a positive response.
The Last of Us Part II will now release on May 20th next year.
