Naughty Dog co-president Evan Wells has announced that he will be retiring from the studio at the end of the year.
Wells has been in discussions with the Naughty Dog studio leadership team about retirement “for over a year, and with Neil [Druckmann] Even longer than that. ”
While the decision elicited some “overwhelming, conflicted emotions,” Wells said spending the past 25 years in the studio felt nothing but fulfilling.
“I have every confidence in Neil’s ability to continue running the studio. Now is the perfect time for me to offer him and the rest of the studio’s leadership team the opportunity to lead the studio,” Wells said in a statement. successful future. “
Wells has been developing games for over 30 years, and while his departure is bittersweet, he’s grateful for everything he’s learned at Naughty Dog.
“I’m really excited about our current projects, and it’s going to be difficult not to see these games finished,” Wells said. “But we’ve never had a stronger team to ensure we’ll deliver them in a way that sets industry standards and exceeds all expectations.
“I have no doubt that Naughty Dog will reach new heights and continue to improve the skill level.”
Wells joined Crystal Dynamics in 1995 after getting his first video game job at SEGA and working on ToeJam & Earl on Funkotron’s Panic. Here, Wells worked on Gex and Gex: Enter the Gecko before moving to Naughty Dog in 1998. Worked on several Crash Bandicoot and Jak and Daxter games. In 2005, Wells became co-presidents of the studio, along with Stephen White, and was succeeded the following year by Christophe Balestra, who retired in 2017. Si became the sole president.
During Welles’ tenure as co-president, the studio released the Uncharted series and The Last of Us. As president, Wells oversaw the release of The Last of Us Part 2 until Neil Druckmann was promoted to co-president in 2020.
Wells is also an executive producer on the Uncharted films and the HBO series The Last of Us.