# #207 - Heather Cerlan Interview On Naughty Dog, Bethesda, Last Of Us,  Hawthorne, Creation Engine

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/kiwi-talkz-5929956/207-heather-cerlan-interview-on-naughty-dog-bethesda-last-of-us-hawthorne-creation-engine
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/kiwi-talkz-5929956/207-heather-cerlan-interview-on-naughty-dog-bethesda-last-of-us-hawthorne-creation-engine.md
Podcast: [Kiwi Talkz](https://stenobird.com/podcast/kiwi-talkz-5929956)
Published: 2026-04-25T18:00:00+00:00
Episode link: https://rss.com/podcasts/kiwi-talkz/2762484
Audio file: https://content.rss.com/episodes/175970/2762484/kiwi-talkz/2026_04_23_21_05_36_5ec172a1-0b12-4b2a-a323-18ff21ac8c0a.mp3
Processing state: not_requested
JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/kiwi-talkz-5929956/episodes/207-heather-cerlan-interview-on-naughty-dog-bethesda-last-of-us-hawthorne-creation-engine
Duration seconds: 4038

## Resource

Heather Cerlan a former artist at Naughty and Bethesda, in this interview she shares her journey from a passionate artist to a studio founder, discussing her experiences at Naughty Dog and Bethesda, her insights on game development, and her ambitious new project Hawthorne. Discover lessons on persistence, navigating industry challenges, and the future of game art and design. HAWTHORNE INFO https://playhawthorn.com/ #thelastofus #starfield #uncharted TIMESTAMPS 00:00 - Intro 00:55 - Being In A Rockband 02:30 - Heather Kept Pestering Naughty Dog Till They Hired Her 06:17 - Having Imposter Syndrome At Naughty Dog/Naughty Dog Didnt Have Producers 08:30 - Bethesda Are About Quantity/Naughty Dog Is About Quality 10:36 - Heather’s Role At Bethesda/Starfield 13:45 - Pros & Cons Of Creation Engine 15:05 - There Was Pressure Internally For Bethesda To Migrate To Unreal Engine 16:59 - Uncharted Lost Legacy Production Issues/Intense Crunch 22:44 - Working On The Shiva Temple 24:28 - Heather’s View On Her Work Getting Remastered/Originals Vs Remasters 29:28 - Working With Neil Druckmann/Lesbian Stories 33:04 - Heather Had Concerns On LGBTQ Themes In Last Of Us Part II 38:00 - Naughty Dog Were Split On Joel’s Death In TLOU Part II 38:48 - The Reason Heather Left Naughty Dog 40:04 - Work On Hawthorne/NEAR Studios 43:41 - Bruce Nesmith 46:00 - Hawthorne Is Skyrim Meets Stardew Valley/Raising Money/Bad Publisher Terms 48:15 - How Naughty Dog & Bethesdas Culture Has Influenced Hawthorne 51:16 - Q + A - Differences Between Naughty Dog & Bethesda 54:54 - Todd Howard Is A Neil Druckmann Fanboy 56:42 - Heather Feels Very Lucky/The Decision To Start Her Own Company 59:18 - Overcoming Fear With Hawthorne 1:05:22 - Where To Follow Heather & Keep Up With Hawthorne

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