Sony has retracted a recent interview with The Last of Us creator Neil Druckmann after misquoting the Naughty Dog studio head. The company apologized for the misquote and for any harm the misrepresentation may have caused Druckmann and his team.
Sony retracts misleading Neil Druckmann interview
“In re-reviewing our recent interview with Naughty Dog’s Neil Druckmann,” wrote Sony, “we have found several significant errors and inaccuracies that don’t represent his perspective and values (including topics such as animation, writing, technology, AI, and future projects). We apologize to Neil for misrepresenting his words and for any negative impact this interview might have caused him and his team. In coordination with Naughty Dog and SIE, we have removed the interview.”
Sony interviewed Druckmann as part of its Creative Entertainment Vision, which attempted to envision where Sony would be in 10 years. The interview included the quote, “I’m eager to see how this new game resonates, especially following the success of The Last of Us, as it could redefine mainstream perceptions of gaming.”
However, Druckmann later clarified that he never said that. Instead, the Naughty Dog head gave a somewhat rambling answer about the changing perception of video games in the public consciousness. He attributed that partly to things like HBO’s The Last of Us show and Amazon’s recent Fallout adaptation, praising the latter. At no point in the original interview did Druckmann say his new project will single-handedly change how people think about games. In fact, he barely spoke about it at all other than to say he couldn’t talk about it.