Neil Druckmann promoted to co-president of Naughty Dog

One of the most notable names in the gaming industry has become much more notable. Neil Druckmann, creative director for The Last of Us and Uncharted 4 titles, has become Naughty Dog co-chair. Evan Wells, former sole chair and now co-chair with Druckmann, made the news official on the Naughty Dog blog.

“Neil Druckmann now joins me as Co-President of Naughty Dog, after serving nearly three years as Vice President. Additionally, we welcome Alison Mori and Christian Gyrling as Vice Presidents of Naughty Dog. Before becoming vice president, Alison served as our chief operating officer and Christian was our co-director of programming, ”Wells said.

“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 am proud of the team when I can recognize their accomplishments and contributions to the study. Please join me in giving everyone 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 he headlined The Last of Us in 2013. In 2014, Druckmann and his partner Bruce Straley took the reins of Uncharted 4 development midway through. In 2018, he was named vice president of the company, but the success of The Last of Us Part II has earned him another promotion.

Despite some annoyed fans reviewing the game’s blitz, The Last of Us Part II received 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 the HBO adaptation of The Last of Us. The show is directed by Chernobyl creator Craig Mazin and is expected to air in 2022. However, it is not the first attempt at adapting the popular PlayStation title.

Sam Raimi was set to produce a movie for The Last of Us, but was fired. Druckmann wrote the second draft of the script, but was not satisfied with the initial production.