Parker Green May 27th, 2024 - 3:54 PM
Naughty Dog, the Sony-owned studio behind the massive Uncharted and The Last of Us franchises, got a bit of buzz over the weekend after comments made by studio head Neil Druckmann were published in an interview with Sony, including a claim that the next Naughty Dog game could “redefine mainstream perceptions of gaming.” The comment came after Druckmann was asked “could you share a personal vision or dream project you hope to see realized in the future of entertainment?” Druckmann has since come forward on Twitter, clarifying that parts of the interview were not quite accurate:
This is not quite what I said. A short 🧵 pic.twitter.com/IgjPm1MwaH
— Neil Druckmann (@Neil_Druckmann) May 25, 2024
Druckmann continued the thread, explaining that some context and information was lost in the interview’s editing process, proceeding to include the unedited answer to the question:
In editing my rambling answers in my recent interview with SONY, some of my words, context, and intent were unfortunately lost. Well, here’s the full long rambling answer for the final question about our future game… pic.twitter.com/tVuxX3LYJF
— Neil Druckmann (@Neil_Druckmann) May 25, 2024
In the unedited comment, Druckmann discusses the evolving perception of video games by the mainstream thanks to successful adaptations like The Last of Us and Fallout. He then notes because of the success, a much larger audience (including non-gamers) are now watching for Naughty Dog’s next move in the gaming space. This sentiment was then (unsuccessfully) translated to the shortened quote which went viral. Druckmann implies that at no point did he say that their next game “could redefine mainstream perceptions of gaming.” Rather, as mainstream perceptions of gaming are being redefined by a multitude of projects in the industry, he is excited to have that mainstream attention focused on his upcoming project. No information has been revealed about Naughty Dog’s new game, but fans of the developer can look forward to the second season of HBO’s The Last of Us series coming in 2025.
