Uncharted designer Richard Lemarchand leaves Naughty Dog after eight year run

Richard Lemarchand is leaving famed developer Naughty Dog for a teaching job at the University of Southern California.

Lemarchand worked at Naughty Dog for eight years, most notably acting as the Lead Game Designer for Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune and as the co-lead game designer for Uncharted 2: Among Thieves and Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception.

He explained his decision to leave the Santa Monica-based company in an interview with Gamasutra, “I was involved with the development of the Uncharted series not quite from the beginning, but almost… and even though the Uncharted series isn’t intended to be viewed as a trilogy, maybe there’s something about the number three that felt… there is a certain amount of completeness for me.”

He will join USC’s Interactive Media Division, where he will teach and create experimental games, after a three-month backpacking trip across the world according to Gamasutra. His globe-trotting adventure will likely not feature as many shoot-outs, collapsing buildings, and history changing discoveries as the PlayStation series he helped create and popularize.

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