One of the most notable names in the gaming industry just became a lot more notable. Neil Druckmann, creative director on both The Last of Us titles and Uncharted 4, has become co-president of Naughty Dog. Evan Wells, former sole president and now co-president with Druckmann, made the news official on Naughty Dog’s blog.
“Neil Druckmann now joins me as Co-President of Naughty Dog, after serving almost three years as Vice President. In addition, we’re welcoming Alison Mori and Christian Gyrling as Vice Presidents of Naughty Dog. Prior to becoming Vice President, Alison served as our Director of Operations and Christian served as our Co-Director of Programming,” said Wells.
“We have such an incredible team at Naughty Dog and being able to work alongside each and every one of them is especially meaningful these days. I feel proud of the team when I’m able to recognize their accomplishments and contributions to the studio. Please join me in giving them all a big congratulations!”
Neil Druckmann has been with the company since 2004 and has worked on Jax, Uncharted, and of course, The Last of Us. He has been a notable figure for Naughty Dog since heading up The Last of Us in 2013. In 2014, Druckmann and his partner Bruce Straley took the reigns on Uncharted 4’s development mid-way through. In 2018, he was made vice president of the company but the success of The Last of Us Part II has earned him another promotion.
Despite some upset fans review bombing the game, The Last of Us Part II garnered praise from critics and sold millions of copies at launch.
It’s unclear what Naughty Dog’s next game will be but Neil Druckmann is still a busy man. The video game writer/director is currently co-writing the story for HBO adaptation of The Last of Us. The show is being led by Chernobyl creator Craig Mazin and is expected to air in 2022. It’s not the first attempted adaptation of the popular PlayStation title, however.
Sam Raimi was set to produce a film for The Last of Us but it was axed. Druckmann penned the second draft of the script but was unsatisfied with early production.
