Anders Howard, a battle pass designer who joined Naughty Dog in November 2022, has vacated the position after less than a year. Serving as the Principal Monetization Designer for The Last Of Us multiplayer title, his LinkedIn profile confirmed that as of September 2023, the developer had parted ways with the Santa Monica-based outfit.
The reason for his exit from the company is uncertain. A wave of recent layoffs at Naughty Dog, paired with the ongoing difficulties facing the multiplayer title, could indicate that Howard had yet to finish his work on the game.
According to Howard’s X (formerly Twitter) account, the designer shared a photo at home, captioning the post with “Day 2 of unemployment” on September 27. The statement aligns with his exit from Naughty Dog.
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Howard worked with Epic Games for seven years, where he helped design “the core of Battle Pass progression strategy, delivering overwhelming value for that product to as many players as possible.”
Subsequently, Howard helped oversee another twelve seasons of “Battle Pass quest and progression content” with Epic. As a Lead Systems Designer at Ubisoft Stockholm, a position he held from January—October 2022, he served as the “vision holder for Social and Economic Systems.” Howard has further lent a hand to Rocket League and Fall Guys with their battle pass progression systems.
Let us know your views on this story in the comments section below, and stay with GameLuster for all the latest gaming news and developments. Naughty Dog recently celebrated the tenth-anniversary of Outbreak Day, an annual milestone for The Last Of Us fandom.
