Update: In a cheeky tweet in response to his words being discussed at length online, Neil Druckmann has clarified that Naughty Dog’s next game being “structured more like a TV show” was in reference to the development of the game being a more collaborative process, which speaks to the second part of the highly-quoted text, “He wasn’t writing the script alone, or with a single partner. He was assembling a writers’ room.”
I’m sure no one will misconstrue what this means! ?
(Spoiler: it’s about making our games in an even more collaborative manner! Stoked to show you our projects as soon as we can!) https://t.co/Vb5HzuMCXr pic.twitter.com/FdtFgthVtv
— Neil Druckmann (@Neil_Druckmann) December 27, 2022
Naughty Dog seemingly has a lot going on right now. Between the releases of this year’s The Last of Us Part I and the Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves Collection, a multiplayer The Last of Us project in the works, HBO’s upcoming TV adaptation of The Last of Us and plenty more unknowns behind the scenes, there’s a lot to look back on and forward to from the studio.
Speaking to The New Yorker’s Alex Barasch recently, Naughty Dog co-president and The Last of Us creator, Neil Druckmann, recently did both of those things. In an article published this week titled “Can “The Last of Us” Break the Curse of Bad Video-Game Adaptations?” Druckmann speaks at length about the impending HBO adaptation (premiering January 16th), the history of video game to screen adaptations in general and the success of The Last of Us.
The video game The Last of Us is an exploration of a charged question, its creator said: “How far will the unconditional love a parent feels for their child go?” https://t.co/4mVjv3Kyrb
— The New Yorker (@NewYorker) December 27, 2022
The whole article is well worth a read if you’re interested in any of those things, but it’s this particular piece’s closing statement that’s sure to have fans trying to predict the future of the Druckmann’s and Naughty Dog’s video game output. In the final paragraph, where the growing synergy of video games and film/TV is discussed, it’s revealed that the studio’s next project might play into that very idea. Barasch quotes Druckmann as saying that his next game will not only be “structured more like a TV show”, but will be borne of an entire writer’s room.
His next project, he revealed, was a game that was “structured more like a TV show” than anything else Naughty Dog had made—for which he’d taken a highly unusual step. He wasn’t writing the script alone, or with a single partner. He was assembling a writers’ room.
It’s an interesting and enticing little tidbit to close out the article with for sure, something of a mic drop that instantly raises a ton of questions about what exactly it means for the next Naughty Dog game. Will it be episodic? Probably not. If anything we’d suggest this speaks more to the approach to the game’s direction and writing, and perhaps alludes to a more ambitious narrative structure than we’ve seen from the studio. Answers are sure to be very far off at this stage, but there’s no doubt the gaming world will be waiting to see what Druckmann and Naughty Dog do next.
Again, check out the whole piece here at The New Yorker, it’s worth a read!
