Neil Druckmann Takes Over Naughty Dog
Naughty Dog, a Sony Interactive Entertainment subsidiary and a first-party PlayStation studio credited with the Uncharted and The Last of Us gaming series, has announced a change in leadership, as the co-president Evan Wells retires later this year. This will leave Neil Druckmann, an Israeli-American writer, creative director, designer, and programmer, in charge of Naughty Dog.
According to Kotaku, Evan Wells announced his retirement from the business after having spent 25 years in the gaming industry, stating that he has full confidence in Neil Druckmann to act as the sole president of Naughty Dog.
Naughty Dog co-president Evan Wells announces his retirement, and The Last of Us creator Neil Druckmann will step in to take charge of the company.
Evans has been at Naughty Dog ever since 1998, with credits including Crash Bandicoot and the Jak and Dexter series. He became the co-president of Naughty Dog following the departure of the studio’s founders in 2004 when he joined Christophe Balestra as the co-president of the company.
It’s worth noting that it’s still unclear whether Neil Druckmann will remain the sole president of Naughty Dog since the company has a history of being run by co-presidents rather than sole individuals.
Following Wells’ promotion, he joined Christophe Balestra as the co-president until 2017, when the latter retired from his position, leaving it vacant. During that time from 2017 to 2020, Wells acted as the sole president of Naughty Dog until Neil Druckmann’s promotion in 2020. So, while it’s not unheard of for Naughty Dog to have one president, the company’s practices usually involve two.
Issues at Naughty Dog
Wells’ departure from the company could have come at a better time, considering that Naughty Dog has been having a challenging year so far. The Last of Us had a massive success on television, but the multiplayer version of the franchise has seen setbacks and delays.
The PC version of the game, which was launched back in March, received mixed reviews due to a number of performance issues that have plagued the game—though, to be honest, most reviewers received a beta copy. Hopefully, Neil Druckmann will steer Naughty Dog into a better relationship with the reviewers.
Nevertheless, Naughty Dog remains one of PlayStation‘s crown jewels, given the sheer number of triple-A gaming titles the studio has outputted ever since Sony acquired it back in 2001. Neil Druckmann, who will be acting as the sole president of Naughty Dog following Wells’ departure, is perhaps best known for designing the Uncharted series—which was written by the legendary Amy Hennig—and co-creating the universally acclaimed The Last of Us franchise.
So, he obviously knows how to work within the gaming industry.
Naughty Dog remains one of PlayStation’s crown jewels, given the sheer number of triple-A gaming titles the studio has outputted ever since Sony acquired it back in 2001.
Neil Druckmann’s work in the gaming industry, particularly at Naughty Dog, earned him numerous awards, including three British Academy Games Awards, four D.I.C.E. Awards, two Game Awards, three Game Developers Choice Awards, and four Writers Guild of America Awards.
So, while many are questioning his leadership skills—please note that those questions are based on the narrative choices he made during the production of The Last of Us Part II—we actually have little doubt in his ability to lead Naughty Dog into a bright future filled with universally acclaimed gaming titles.
