In a recent interview, Neil Druckmann dropped some intimate revelations about his occupational fatigue, stressing how tough it has been managing multiple studios around the world during the development of some of the biggest and most ambitious games ever made, such as The Last of Us (and Part II). He talked about desiring to spend more time with his family and how he doesn’t see himself ‘doing this forever at this scale’.
Ultimately, the Naughty Dog co-president suggested he might not have many more games left in him.
When Is It Enough?
In 2013, The Last of Us was released to critical acclaim and became the most highly awarded game in history. In 2020, The Last of Us Part II launched under similar circumstances, and while some controversial issues split the community, many gamers class Part II as a masterpiece and a memorable marvel that’ll go down in history.
That’s Neil Druckmann’s legacy – that and the creation of one of the best game-to-television live-action adaptations ever made.
In a recent interview on the Logically Speaking podcast, Druckmann took a deep dive into his longevity as a developer, comparing himself to Quentin Tarantino at one point, referencing the legendary film director’s goal of making ten major movies and then hanging up his clapper:
I’m very curious whether he sticks to that. I think he will just because he’s been saying this for so long. So I could see myself transitioning to something that’s more lowkey that still allows me to have a creative outlet. But I’ve started thinking about how many more of these games I have in me, and it’s not that many.
Presently, Naughty Dog is believed to be working on The Last of Us Part III in at least some way – but there’s nothing concrete there. It was recently said by a Part II actor that he’s unaware of so much as a script existing for the project, but it has been said before that one more game will wrap up the iconic story and bring everything full circle.
Following the cancellation of Naughty Dog’s multiplayer game set in The Last of Us’ universe, there’s plenty of scope for the studio to push out one more big-budget single-player title.
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