Emilia Schatz

She was hired at Naughty Dog in 2009, and began working early in development on Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception, for which she designed several levels.

[4][5] Schatz's early jobs included mowing lawns, data entry, installing ethernet, and working at Golden Corral.

[4] Following the release of Ghostbusters: The Video Game, having spent seven years at Terminal Reality, Schatz began applying for positions at her "dream studios",[4] including Double Fine and Naughty Dog; she noted that she "wasn't that interested" in Sony's games until she played Naughty Dog's Uncharted: Drake's Fortune (2007), and had enjoyed the cinematic qualities of Crash Bandicoot and Jak and Daxter, so felt it would be a good studio to work with.

[15] She began working at the company early in development on Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception (2011), designing the French château level, the foot chase, and the ending's underground and collapse segments.

[4] She often referenced The Legend of Zelda when designing levels for the game,[5] and cited Don Norman's usability engineering research in guiding the player.

[12]: 35:36  In April 2012, Schatz participated in a panel discussion at PAX East alongside game director Justin Richmond and community strategist Arne Meyer.

[13] For the development of Uncharted 4: A Thief's End (2016), Schatz was promoted to co-lead game designer,[20] overseeing level creation and checking in with artists and programmers working on them.

[4] Schatz and user interface (UI) designer Alex Neonakis collaborated on the game's accessibility options,[21][22] having received emails and messages from disabled gamers requesting them.

[7] Schatz designed the Scotland, Marooned, and No Escape levels, as well as some of the mechanics like rock climbing and slope sliding.

[29][26] In December 2016, she crocheted a yarn doll of Ellie, the game's protagonist, and provided instructions on Naughty Dog's website.

[12]: 42:10  Schatz was responsible for the addition of a rainbow crosswalk and transgender flag in the Capitol Hill level of the game, and designed a queer bookstore, for which she worked with writer Halley Gross.

[33] Schatz felt Uncharted 4's accessibility options were "pretty sparse" despite the praise they received, and wanted to improve upon them in The Last of Us Part II.

She came out to Naughty Dog's head of operations and organized a plan to send a company-wide email on March 14, 2014, which they coordinated with co-presidents Christophe Balestra and Evan Wells.

[44] Some of Schatz's favorite games that have influenced her as developer include The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past (1991), Secret of Mana (1993), Final Fantasy VI (1994), and Super Metroid (1994).

A 39-year-old woman with brown hair and a man with a dark beard and a cap smiling at the camera
Schatz was part of the leadership team for the development of The Last of Us Part II as co-lead game designer alongside Richard Cambier (right). [ 26 ]