The Last of Us co-director responds to backlash over his controversial comments, claims his 'words, context, and intent were unfortunately lost'

Naughty Dog co-president Neil Druckmann clarifies his statements regarding his upcoming "dream project", stating that it aims to engage non-gamers and redefine their perception of the gaming medium.

Naughty Dog co-president and The Last Of Us co-director Neil Druckmann has set the record straight on some of his recently controversial statements.

Earlier this week, in an interview with Sony at the company’s corporate strategy presentation, the director reportedly said he was working on a “dream project” that was the studio’s “most thrilling yet,” before adding that the currently unannounced game “could redefine mainstream perceptions of gaming” - a statement that read as overly boastful to some since, y’know, gaming is already mainstream.

Druckmann has now tweeted to set the record straight, explaining that “some of my words, context, and intent were unfortunately lost” as the published interview edited down his “rambling answers.” In other words, Sony published quotes that apparently never left Druckmann's lips. The full answer embedded below doesn’t include the line about redefining mainstream perceptions, and is more clearly about non-gamers paying closer attention to the medium amid all the film and TV adaptations.

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/tVuxX3LYJFMay 25, 2024

"There’s a new appreciation for gaming that I’ve never seen before," Druckmann says in his full answer. "Like when I was growing up, gaming was more of a kid’s thing. Now it’s clearly for everyone. But it’s like, if you’re a gamer, you know about the potential of games, and non-gamers, they don’t really know what they’re missing out on. But my hope was, when we made The Last Of Us as a TV show we could change that.” He also points to the success of the Fallout TV series in converting non-gamers. 

“I think it just kind of opens the eyes of a bunch of people that just weren't aware of the kind of experiences that exist in games… So, I’m not only excited for this game we’re making - and it’s something really fresh for us - but I’m also excited to see how the world reacts to it. Because of The Last Of Us, and the success of the show, people even outside gaming are looking at us to see what it is that we put out next.”

In Sony’s published interview, Druckmann was also attached to quotes claiming that artificial intelligence would allow for “more adventurous projects and push boundaries of storytelling in games.” Game developers rightly hit back at the controversial AI comments, but it’s unclear if Sony edited those lines in the same manner too. 

Check out our list of upcoming PS5 games for more.