Earlier this week, Sony published an interview with The last of us director Neil Druckmann about the future of gaming. The president of Naughty Dog was quoted as saying that the PlayStation studio’s next game “could redefine the general perception of gaming.” In a shocking twist, Druckmann now says he never actually said that.
The interview in question went to its investors along with a strategy briefing from Sony. In addition to the praise for the Potential for generative AI Druckmann, who wants to change the way games are made, apparently made a big announcement about Naughty Dog’s next highly anticipated PlayStation 5 game. “I’m excited to see how this new game is received, especially after the success of The last of usbecause it could redefine the general perception of gaming,” the interview said.
In addition to coverage by several media outlets, including IGN The quote, which he described as “big words,” also spread like wildfire on social media and was widely criticized. The reaction prompted Druckmann to correct the statement.
“That’s not quite what I said,” the veteran gaming creative tweeted late on May 24. “Unfortunately, in editing my rambling answers in my last interview with Sony, some of my words, context, and intent were lost. Well, here is the full, long, rambling answer to the last question about our future game.”
Druckmann then shared an excerpt of the raw and unedited transcript of his conversation with the anonymous interviewer. In it, he talks about how gaming was niche and isolated from the rest of the culture when he was growing up, and how that has changed since then, thanks in part to hit TV shows like HBO’s adaptation of The last of us And Amazon’s adaptation of Stand out.
“Not only am I excited about this game we are making – and it is something really new for us – but I am also excited to see how the world reacts to it,” the transcript says. “Because The last of usand the success of the show, people outside of the gaming industry are looking to us to see what we’re coming out with next. I’m very excited to see what the reaction to this thing is going to be.”
While interviews are often shortened for clarity and length, published on Sony’s website made a surprising number of cuts and, what’s worse, made up a lot of things that Druckmann didn’t say, including sentences with completely different meanings than in the original. This raises the question of how many other parts of the interview are not accurate paraphrases of what the game developer said, or are completely made up. If there had been more errors, Druckmann would probably have corrected them as well.
One thing Sony edited out of its response was a moment of humility and generosity. “I’ve been very lucky to work with incredible partners on the games I love, and I’m very grateful to them,” Druckmann said. It was a tacit reminder that Naughty Dog’s games are made by hundreds of people.
Sony did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
