Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet May Be Remembered for Its Human Craft, Says Matt Radford
He compared game production to cathedral-building and said new technology could reshape both the size of game teams and the roles they fill.
Former Naughty Dog VFX artist Matt Radford thinks future audiences may look back at games such as Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet as records of what human teams could create in a particular era. In a Kiwi Talkz interview, he considered how new technology might reshape game production, the size of development teams, and the roles people fill.
Radford compared games to Cologne’s cathedrals, works shaped by a distinctive moment when artistry, time, and specialized expertise came together. He questioned whether that kind of craftsmanship could be recreated after production methods and talent move on.
His examples included Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet, Uncharted 4, and The Last of Us Part II. Radford pointed to human acting, writing, modeling, sculpting, and painting, imagining future audiences marveling that the work had been done by hand.
Radford said he hopes this kind of work can keep happening, and characterized his sense of Naughty Dog’s approach as, “let’s just keep it going.” He spoke about technological change broadly and did not name AI or a particular tool.
He also wondered whether studios might one day lose the ability to spend $600 million, or a similarly astronomical sum, on a story-driven action game. The figure was hypothetical, not a budget for any game he named.
Which part of the human work Radford named do you think future players will notice most? For more stories about the people and craft behind major games, stay connected with us on X, Bluesky, YouTube, Instagram, Steam, and Telegram.
