Sony Apologizes and Removes Neil Druckmann Interview

Sony has removed its interview with Neil Druckmann (creator of The Last of Us; executive producer for Uncharted) due to inaccuracies in the final edit. It apologizes to Druckmann for “misrepresenting his words,” as well as any negative attention he may have gotten as a result of it.

The interview in question talked about animation, writing, technology, AI, and his future projects. However, Druckmann has since took to Twitter (X) to point out that Sony’s interview removed a lot of nuance from his answer, as well as misrepresented his views. He also included his full answer to the question.

The issue stems from Sony asking Druckmann about a personal vision or dream project he hopes to see in the future of entertainment. He replies that he was lucky he worked on so many dream projects in the past. He also talks about how gaming has become something all age groups can enjoy. Druckmann mentions that the The Last of Us show has given more visibility to games and the rich experiences they can offer. Finally, he states that the popularity and success of The Last of Us (the show) can “redefine mainstream perceptions of gaming.”

However, he then took to Twitter (X) to show his actual “rambling” response to the question. In his full response, he talks about how The Last of Us (the show) can make non-gamers realize the depth of storytelling and wealth of narratives in video games. Because of the show’s success, even non-gamers are focusing on Naughty Dog to see what they’ll put out next. At the end, he goes back to the original question and says that he was lucky work on his favorite gamers with “incredible collaborators.” Sony’s edits have retained the spirit of Druckmann’s reply. But it failed to note that an editor paraphrased his replies.

Druckmann did not comment on or correct the mentions of AI in the interview.