After having spent the last 18 years with Naughty Dog, game director Bruce Straley has announced his departure from the award-winning developer studio.  Best known for his directorial work on Uncharted 2 and for co-directing The Last of Us, Straley said his farewells in a heartstring-tugging blog post on Naughty Dog’s website.

“This has been the hardest decision of my career,” Bruce Straley said.  “Naughty Dog is home. The Kennel is family. I’ve learned and grown so much from working with this incredible team.” Though Straley did not mention what his plans were moving forward, he mentioned that he found his “energy focusing in other directions,” and that he took it as a sign for him to leave.

.@bruce_straley has been my mentor, directing partner, & friend. I miss working with him but am excited to experience whatever he does next. https://t.co/nGOwLLLFFJ

— Neil Druckmann (@Neil_Druckmann) September 13, 2017

Straley originally joined Naughty Dog back in 1999, and worked on texture artistry for Crash Team Racing.  Prior to signing on with the “Kennel” he did some work with Crystal Dynamics, which is where he would meet his future collaborative partner, Amy Hennig.  In his farewell post, the game director offers thanks to both Hennig and Neil Druckmann, whom he describes as “great creative partners.”

Climbing the ranks during the production of Jak and Daxter and its two sequels, Straley was named as co-art director for Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune alongside Bob Rafei. Uncharted 2 found Straley in the game director’s chair, which he used to pull in the studio’s very first game of the year award. After the massive success of Uncharted 2, Straley changed gears once more and set out to co-direct The Last of Us with Neil Druckmann.

So, thoughts on Bruce Straley announcing his departure from Naughty Dog? Do you think he will join a different studio, or create one of his own? Let us know in the comments section below, and as always, stay tuned to Don’t Feed the Gamers for all the latest gaming and entertainment news!  Don’t forget to follow DFTG on Twitter for our 24/7 news feed!