Naughty Dog's Neil Druckmann Assumes Presidency As Co-President Evan Wells Retires

Neil Druckmann, director of The Last of Us, will now be the only president of Naughty Dog, the video game developer based in Santa Monica and owned by Sony Group Corp.'s SONY Sony Interactive Entertainment.

Co-president Evan Wells announced he will retire in a blog post on the studio's website: "I’ve come to realize that I’m content with my time at the studio and all that we’ve accomplished together over the last 25 years. I couldn’t be more confident in Neil's ability to carry on running the studio."

Wells has been a part of Naughty Dog since 1998, where he worked on games such as Crash Bandicoot and the Jak and Daxter series. He oversaw the release of the mega-popular Uncharted and The Last of Us series.

In the letter shared with his fellow Naughty Dog team members, Wells added: "I’m incredibly confident that I'll be leaving the studio in the best hands. Neil and the rest of the capable and dynamic Studio Leadership Team are perfectly suited to ensure Naughty Dog continues to lead the industry — not only in the games we make but the environment in which we make them. I am positive that Naughty Dog will continue to push the industry and our medium forward."

There's been no further information if Druckmann will be the sole president of the company or if Wells will be replaced by someone else in the future.

In addition to his role at Naughty Dog, Druckmann is actively involved as the director and co-writer of the Emmy-nominated "The Last of Us" live-action TV series.

Naughty Dog's recent projects include The Last of Us Part II (2020) and a remake of the original Play Station 3 game for PS5, alongside an undisclosed multiplayer game set The Last of Us post-apocalyptic universe.

Photo: Neil Druckmann, courtesy Jonatan Blomberg and Naughty Dog on Wikipedia

Market News and Data brought to you by Benzinga APIs

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

Zinger Key Points