Nate Wells was the latest to join the exodus of talent from The Last of Us developer Naughty Dog earlier this year. The former Naughty Dog and previous Irrational Games alumni spent some time at The Unfinished Swan developer Giant Sparrow in the meantime. Now Wells has joined Crystal Dynamics as the studio’s newest lead art director, according to a recent tweet of his.
Wow, you can actually smell trees up here. #crystaldynamics #firstday
— Nate Wells (@PrettyLarceny) December 1, 2014
“Wow, you can actually smell trees up here,” Wells said of his new line of work, tweeting the hashtags #crystaldynamics and #firstday. We assume his reference has something to do with Crystal Dyanmics is located in Redwood, California and its eponymous redwood trees.
In addition to his tweet, Wells’ Linkedin account also lists his new employment by Crystal Dynamics. The studio is presently hard at work on its sequel to 2013’s Tomb Raider – Rise of the Tomb Raider, which will debut as an Xbox One exclusive next year.
Wells also joins Justin Richmond, director on Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End, in the long line of employees to depart Naughty Dog this year. Richmond left for League of Legends developer Riot Games while Uncharted creative director and writer Amy Hennig and voice actor Todd Stashwick were recruited for Visceral Games’ Star Wars project, which has yet to be released.
Via Nate Wells on Twitter & LinkedIn