Almost a decade ago, Naughty Dog faced many entirely new challenges in the creation of Uncharted 2: Among Thieves - in expanding the gameplay through the use of new traversal, combat and AI technologies, introducing characters that shed new light on hero Nathan Drake, and tackling the studio's first foray into multiplayer in four years. 

At GDC 2010, then co-lead game designer Richard Lemarchand candidly described how they tackled these problems, and how the studio's philosophy of collaboration, open communication and investment of responsibility in the people who create the game allowed Naughty Dog to avoid a "sophomore slump" and surpass the original game.

It's an interesting talk because he also discussed how a (comparatively) small studio of around one hundred people tackled the issues faced in executing Naughty Dog's most complex production yet, giving practical examples and telling interesting stories of crisis points overcome and valuable lessons learned.

If you missed it in person, no worries -- you can now watch it for free via the official GDC YouTube channel!

About the GDC Vault

In addition to this presentation, the GDC Vault and its new YouTube channel offers numerous other free videos, audio recordings, and slides from many of the recent Game Developers Conference events, and the service offers even more members-only content for GDC Vault subscribers.

Those who purchased All Access passes to recent events like GDC, GDC Europe, and GDC Next already have full access to GDC Vault, and interested parties can apply for the individual subscription via a GDC Vault subscription page. Group subscriptions are also available: game-related schools and development studios who sign up for GDC Vault Studio Subscriptions can receive access for their entire office or company by contacting staff via the GDC Vault group subscription page. Finally, current subscribers with access issues can contact GDC Vault technical support.

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