Probably one of the biggest games for Sony’s PlayStation 4 game console this year is Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End, the final chapter in the game franchise created by Naughty Dog Games. Based on early reviews, Nathan Drake‘s final adventure has received largely positive response from critics.
However, one thing many people probably don’t know is that a small group of Malaysians actually had a hand in creating parts of this third-person action adventure game. Passion Republic, a local developer, was enlisted by Naughty Dog when the company found it was running behind schedule for Uncharted 4.
Through Sony and with the help of the Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC), Passion Republic, led by its president, Ng Aik Sern, was contracted to create many in-game assets, including treasures, artefacts and other collectables.
(L to R) Passion Republic’s lead modeling artist Kok Yip Sun, lead concept artist Tham Hoi Mun, MDEC director of creative content and technologies Hasnul Hadi Samsudin and Ng helped to make Uncharted 4 a reality.
Despite having to learn a whole new workflow, Ng and his team managed to deliver the assets on time and the developers at Naughty Dog were so impressed that they asked the company to take on more of the asset creation job. The initial time limit was six weeks but with the added work, the development time was extended to nine weeks. In the end, Ng and his team were responsible for over 100 in-game items.
Established in 2006, Passion Republic has racked up an impressive list of projects it has worked on, including producing assets for games like Dark Souls III, Batman: Arkham Knight, Mortal Kombat X and Shadow Of The Beast.
Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End hits the streets on May 10.