Naughty Dog, the developer behindThe Last of UsandUncharted, announced that it is promoting one of its senior staff members to co-president. Neil Druckmann, who served asNaughty Dog’s vice president for three years, will now join Evan Wells as the developer’s co-president.
Druckmann has been a part of Naughty Dog since 2004 and has been a major influence on the developer’s biggest releases for the last 10 years. He co-createdThe Last of Uswith former Naughty Dog director Bruce Staley and continued to work as the game’s creative director for its 2020 sequel. Both of the games are critically acclaimed, with the latter titlereceiving multiple Game Awards nominations this year. Druckmann also played a key role in developing theUnchartedseries and theJak and Dextergames.
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The same post that announced Druckmann’s promotion also announced the promotions of Alison Mori and Christian Gyrling to vice presidents. Mori previously served as the company’s director of operations and Gyrling served as co-director of programming.
“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,” Wells said in a statement announcing the promotions. “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!”
Despite the challenges posed by the coronavirus pandemic, Naughty Dog is finishing a successful year.The Last of Usreceived critical acclaim upon its release in June, ranking as thebest-selling video game of that monthand later becoming the third highest-selling game of PlayStation’s history in the United States. Last month, the title won the Game of the Year Award at the Golden Joysticks.
This year has also seen new developments for theUnchartedseries' movie adaptionwith Tom Holland cast as Nathan Drake. The film is scheduled to release in July 2021, and fans have already expressed excitement overseeing one of the most popular PlayStation franchises come to the silver screen.
It is not knownwhat Naughty Dog has planned for its next release, but it’s a safe bet that the company will spend all of next year developing its next PlayStation exclusive. Many fans hope the studio begins development on a newUnchartedor the next entry inThe Last of Us. It is also possible that the studio will return to theJak and Dexterseries, which has not had a new release in over a decade. Some fans also hope to see Naughty Dog go in a completely new direction with a new IP. Whatever game the studio decides to focus on next, fans can expect that it will take full advantage of the PS5’s next gen-features.
The Last of Usis available on PS4.
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