The co-president of Naughty Dog, Neil Druckmann, clarifies earlier statements about the writing decisions for upcoming game projects. Neil Druckmann has a long history with the Playstation first-party studio dating back to his work as an intern in 2004. As a programmer, Druckmann worked on Jak 3, and he became a household name among gamers with his work as co-lead game designer for both the Uncharted and The Last of Us video game series.Currently, Neil Druckmann is the co-president of Naughty Dog alongside Evan Wells. The company has been credited for its influence on the gaming world, specifically AAA budget titles, as they were one of the early adopters of motion-captured voice acting instead of the standard scripted voice acting. The company also pushes for creating realistic, grounded characters and narratives that implement cinematic features into their game to create a unique experience for games. This, alongside fun, addictive gameplay and strong replay value, is part of why series like The Last of Us have gained numerous awards and critical acclaim.Though the company is loved by the gaming community, the popularity of Naughty Dog has come with several critiques as well. There are some gamers in the community who are concerned with the cinematic influence over gaming and the technical expectations set by AAA studios like Naughty Dog. Recent statements by Druckmann during a profile with New Yorker had stirred up a bit of controversy because it was reported that future Naughty Dog releases would be structured more like a TV show than any game the company has worked on previously. Druckmann quoted the reporting of this profile and clarified that he simply meant that the games they make from now on would be in an even more collaborative manner and teased that he could not wait to show off future projects as soon as possible.
The online post made to Twitter received nearly one million views and energized fans of Naughty Dog who took to the replies to share their excitement. Fans are particularly focusing on Neil's choice of words as he mentioned that there were multiple projects that the studio is currently working on. Certainly, one of those announcements is the upcoming The Last of Us Factions 2 Multiplayer, which was originally planned to release alongside The Last of Us Part 2 but became its own standalone project because of how ambitious it is.
Regardless of what Naughty Dog has prepared for their fans, it is certain to energize its community. Naughty Dog is one of the leaders within gaming who has pushed the medium forward and undoubtedly inspired other PlayStation first-party studios as well. Many fans are looking forward to updates on the Factions 2 Multiplayer, and there are even rumors that The Last of Us Part 3 is currently in development as well, though nothing has been confirmed by the studio yet.