There appears to have been a tough loss for the juggernaut game development studio Naughty Dog recently, as the news has circulated this evening of Uncharted series lead writer and creative director Amy Hennig departing from the studio earlier this week.

The news first surfaced when IGN reported a source’s claim that Amy Hennig had been “forced out” by The Last of Us creative directors Neil Druckmann and Bruce Straley. IGN then reached out to several PlayStation representatives, who reportedly confirmed Hennig’s departure as well.

In a statement to Polygon, Sony said, “We can confirm that Amy Hennig has left Naughty Dog. Amy has made significant contributions to the game industry and we appreciate all she has done for Naughty Dog. The development timeline of Uncharted will not be impacted.”

After contacting several trusted sources of our own, we’re able to report that there has indeed been a massive shakeup within the studio—a shakeup forceful enough to have folks drawing conclusions that Hennig has left the studio. However, it’s important to note that we won’t know exactly what happened with Hennig or why this happened until the smoke has cleared and co-presidents Evan Wells and Christophe Belestra decide to make a public statement.

Either way, today’s events have brought an unfortunate and very possible future to the forefront of our minds, an Uncharted game without the genius of Hennig’s writings. Now the question is, how will the next Uncharted game be affected by losing its brainchild in the middle of production? We’ll have more on this story as it unfolds.

[HT: IGN]