Neil Druckmann says new Naughty Dog title ‘could redefine mainstream perceptions of gaming

The Last of Us director’s next project is “perhaps the most thrilling yet.

[H9]

When you start the game Neil will appear personally telling you about real world issues and call you all sort of names if you don't take action now and then you watch a whole movie and that's it

[Crows90]

Too much credit.

A good dev doesn't need to announce how good his game is...he just shows it.

You don't see Kojima glorifying his ideas like this and you don't see successful developers glorifying their "great" ideas before release.

It's going to be a shit show...reserve some popcorn.

Its a hard pill to swallow but the naughty dog we once had is long gone. Most don't realize it but eventually just like with bioware and blizzard...it'll be hard to ignore.

[H9]

Neil just wants to be Kojima so bad, meanwhile Kojima is just like a child enjoying the world, saying whatever comes to his mind and having so much passion, man I don't even like his games that much but the man is just passion incarnate!

And the popcorn is always ready for Neil

[notachance]

Ever since Bruce Straley left it was like Neil lost his leash and went on full ego trip, not unlike Kojima tbh but at least with Kojima you can see how much he loved video games and how he truly want to push the boundaries. Neil felt like he’s just strutting around..

[helicoptergirl]

You've got him all wrong smh

[StoneTitan]

Erm dude. Never played a kojima game before? He can absolutely come across pretentious to some people. He puts his name in the credits of every Mission you do in mgs5.
I mean...
Also naughty dog absolutely has the power to bring in people from a very different demographic unlike other gamecompanies. TLOU and Uncharted were absoolutely groundbreaking for gaming.
Also Druckman never said it "will" he said it "could"
Sounds actually very optimistic but also cautious to me.
Stop hating move on

[1Victor]

@crow: “You don't see Kojima glorifying his ideas like this”
You mean like this👇👇
https://www.gamedeveloper.c...
ALL DEV HYPE THEIR NEXT GAME IDEAS so I call BS on your statement

[Cacabunga]

I dislike the character, but i really hope this is a single player game..

[ElaBosak]

Lmao please tell me this is sarcasm? Kojima is the epitome of a dev glorifying his ideas even worse than this.

[CobraKai]

Id like them to show something. Only doing 2 TLOU remakes this far into the PS5 life is disappointing.

[DivineHand125]

I disagree. Whenever a developer knows he is working on something really good they will go out of their way to tell everyone. The Last of Us Part 2 was a well-made game even though the story could have been better.

I hope Naughty Dog grows from that and if they choose to kill off the main characters, they can execute it like in Game of Thrones where we are left in shock and it leads to a satisfying conclusion.

We don't know if the naughty dog of old is long gone since they were able to complete the Last of Us part 2 using fresh talent despite the challenges. Let's hope for the best

[smashman98]

This all sounds like cope when ur greeted with the reality that Last of us is more popular than ever and last of us 2 was yet another critical darling.

I'm sorry but outside of a very vocal minority who loves to whine really really loudly Naughty Dog is nothing like those 2.

[TheKingKratos]

" You don't see Kojima glorifying his ideas like this and you don't see successful developers glorifying their "great" ideas before release."

Really?!

[RaidenBlack]

I am slightly more curious regarding Cory Barlog's next project

[S2Killinit]

I just want to play ND game, I dont really care about neither sides politics.

[H9]

ND games now are a political battlefield, it's allegory as a game, according to him even, it's so easy to say you don't care about politics and then love games that are only made by and for politics

[S2Killinit]

Games are not made “for” politics. Games are an expression of someone’s speech. There is NOTHING wrong with a developer expressing itself in its own creation. Whether that expression is deemed “political” or not, it does not make a difference.

This is the very foundation of the freedom of speech.

[itBourne]

Where is the freedom of speech? Anyone center to right has to hide it or get kicked out of the industry. It's beyond one sided, no freedom allowed.

[S2Killinit]

@itBourne

My friend, you are not informed about how freedom of speech works. I suggest that you inform yourself so that you understand where your rights begin and end. (Not a knock at you)

But to set you on a correct direction, I will explain it. Your freedom of speech is a right to be free from infringement by “State action”. In other words, it does not protect you from acts/repercussions by non-government actors. Therefore, if by “center to right” you mean you would like to insult other people, know that while you are free to do so (to a constitutional degree as there are limitations), you are not free from the public repercussions of your speech. So, if your place of employment deems your conduct to be such that they do not approve your speaking on their behalf, they have every right to stop you by terminating your employment. You are free to express yourself, and no government agency can stop your speech, but you are not free from public consequences of your act/speech. People often confuse these matters and then conclude that “we dont have freedom of speech because I get fired for saying highly offensive things that are my opinions.”

Now, if someone is fired for non offensive opinion/speech, they may have a claim for unlawful termination.

I hope this clears things up.

[dmonee]

Better yet, you start the game, go through what you just said, and then your PS is bricked, and your account is permanently banned!!!!!

[DarXyde]

Druckmann doesn't really beat you over the head with the message of the game. The only thing he said about The Last of Us Part II prior to launch was that it was commentary on the cycle of violence.

In reality, it was also commentary on the decades long Israel-Palestine conflict, which he doesn't really mention until after the fact and is a reflection of his own lived experiences. In fact, I would not be surprised if it was difference of opinion on this issue that led to him and Straley parting ways. Extremely contentious issue, moreso now than when the game launched.

However, I do find it extraordinarily fascinating that, following 6 October, Druck missed the entire message of his own work.

That aside, Naughty Dog is an incredible studio that has made incredibly memorable titles every generation since PS1... But that said, Naughty Dog (Druckmann, specifically) needs to reel it in. Neil went on about how ambitious Factions II was with years of silence otherwise, only to have it unceremoniously cancelled in a letter to the public.

Temper the hype, Neil. We'll see when it's time to see it.

[solideagle]

please shut up and release a game, Naughty dog has not released a single title apart from Remaster on PS5...

[garos82]

neil druckman is running on the glories of amy henig and bruce straley

[dRanzer]

So you didn't play tlou 2?

[S2Killinit]

People like to ignore reality because they dont like this guy. I really wish people could just accept that we all have different political leanings, and that is ok, we are not enemies. Especially now that people have already learned how social media algorithms prevent us from seeing eye to eye with people who have different opinions from us.

Personally, ND is my favorite developer, and I can’t wait to see what they are working on.

[garos82]

I didnt no, and i consider TLOU 1 in my top 5 games of all time

[StormSnooper]

@garos82 (or dRanzer)
Too bad for you then because TLOU2 was amazing.

[mkis007]

Neither have released anything by themselves. This weird Neil hate is wacko. It reads like thinly veiled antisemitism tbh.

[Crows90]

Is he Jewish??? I didn't even know. Frankly nobody gives a shit.

[mkis007]

People that don't like Neil give him all the hate and Straley and Henig all the love...it's a very easy to read sign of hate beyond what they have actually contributed.

[Shiore2u]

I think you more accurately want it to be antisemitism to convince yourself instead of considering any sort of nuance for whatever multitude of reasons may actually be for others. Just cause he's jewish doesn't make him exempt from criticism, and considering current events that's not a hill I'd advise to die on.

[smashman98]

I don't think it's mostly antisemitism.
I think some people genuinely hated the direction the story took and instead of being adults and saying man I just didn't like that story, they're being weirdos and saying neil sucks, even though Last of us 2 is objectively from a gameplay perspective some of naughty dog's best work.

Then a small minority of those people are the transphobes, homophobes, and racists.

That being said the neil haters either way are definitely weirdos.

[StormSnooper]

I don’t know anything about this antisemitism claim (might be missing sometging here), but there is definitely a anti-gay thing because this was a major TikTok clickbait subject for the influencers that pray on people’s right wing emotions.

You can see it even in the comments here. It’s crazy, one game with gay characters and people melted! I blame social media algorithms.

[mkis007]

The antisemitism claim comes mostly from other places where they don't even hide it

[Elda]

Can't wait to see what ND is bringing.

[S2Killinit]

Same. ND is the greatest developer imo.

[ooquis]

He's gaslighting us to want something that doesn't exist yet. This fool got demoted back to janitor status where he belongs for destroying the last of us franchise.

[S2Killinit]

Misinformed

[romulus23]

He didn't "destroy" the franchise, knock off the hyperbole.

[ravens52]

So much hate for Neil lol. I enjoyed his games 🤷🏽 looking forward to the next.

[outsider1624]

I'm wondering that too myself. I mean some of these guys here are probably far away in their own countries..yet still hating on Neil. Let it go already..jeeze man.

[Crows90]

I forgot you defend Bobby as well of course

[outsider1624]

Huh? Who tf is Bobby?

[repsahj]

LOL! I don't get it either. Maybe they're bothered of his beard?

[jwillj2k4]

The Last of Us 1 & 2: The Remixes

[anast]

It's going to be a banger. The rest of the comments here are funny.

[Aloymetal]

Whatever it is, it's gonna be a technical masterpiece. There's no game out there that has the diverse fluid/seamless animations that TLOU2 has. I just wish they update their engine a bit more just like Guerrilla is constantly doing.

[anast]

The engine critique is a valid one. I think they will adjust to get the most out of this gen.

[Demetrius]

I know they're gonna push hardware power I'm ready to see devs use power of the ps5 and series x, we coulda gotten even more creative games but folks still wana make games look like early ps4 titles

[Einhander1972]

They will push hardware power, and their game will have a 60 fps setting.

[Eonjay]

I never understood this concept. On PC, we don't have one set of games for one power level and then another set for higher power levels. We have games that scale across power. The highest end PCs are way higher than consoles but they play the same games as low end PCs. Also from a dev perspective, sure you want to make the best looking game ever, but development cost money and you have mouths to feed. It only seems responsible financially to make your game as widely available as possible.

[Psychonaut85]

I’m sure it will be great but I’m concerned about timeframe. Everything he’s said over the last couple months makes me thing the game may only be i pre production or early production at best. So I’m feeling like next Naughty Dog game may be a PS6 launch title. I’m hoping that Corey Barlog’s non-GoW project is in the nearer future. Cuz Sony is looking a bit lean, maybe we’ll hear something at the next showcase.

[S2Killinit]

I doubt that. They had already said they didnt want to make announcements about games too early, now he is teasing next project which tells me some work has been done already.

[Crows90]

Sitting on their asses all day has to count for something.

[purple101]

I personally don’t think Sony would pay all their wages for 8years and not let them release something

We know naughty dog have influence even over the design and contents of the console before release they are that important

They have had the hardware for A LONG time
I’d be expecting a megaton pretty soon maybe not this month, but soon

[S2Killinit]

I agree. ☝️

[Barlos]

I don't like the sound of that. Redefining mainstream perceptions of gaming sounds like Sweet Baby talk to me.

[Eonjay]

From the inside looking out... how would you be able to tell that you have been brainwashed. It happened to me years ago, but I was lucky enough to have outlets outside of the echo chamber that allowed me to re-center myself.

[Crows90]

You can tell you have not been brainwashed when you do your own research instead of just accepting a single individuals or groups narrative...and then of course going ballistic on it.

Since you had to respond to his very mild comment and concern in the way that you did...then yeah probably brainwashed.

[lucasnooker]

I’ll wait till release…. I lost faith after waiting 7 years for the last of us 2 and getting that awful story. Sorry

[FinalFantasyFanatic]

I strongly doubt that, they haven't put out a new game for a long time, we've only had remakes of very recent games from Naughty Dog this gen.

[romulus23]

Takes time to make a game that redefines perception.

[RupeeHoarder]

The hate for this man is off the charts. Until they release a complete dud, don't bet money against them.

[archibold]

Welp - looks like CUCKMAN is at it again!!!
What next, Sweet Baby Inc is gonna fluff up his arseh*le for him?

Don't make me laugh.

Naughty Dog is DEAD. Did you guys even play TLOU2?
It was horrible! The graphics were trash, the gameplay was booorrrrinnngg, and Abby had sex with some Ryan Reynolds knock off..?

The sex scene was AWKWARD and DISGUSTING!!! Just like Sweet Baby Inc wanted it to be!!!!
By the way, I did not pass third grade reading, but that doesn't mean my opinion is any less valid.

[romulus23]

Yep played it and loved it, graphics were incredible, game play was stellar. I get that people have no valid argument about the game so they have to go after Druckman as their only alternative to have something to complain about.

[Snookies12]

Yep, spot-on with the hate for Part II. The sequel was better than the first in just about every way other than the pacing around the half way point. None of the vocal haters can seem to point out any actual flaws with it. They just give vague responses like, "the story sucks, I don't like certain political views of the creator, a character I like died so that makes it a bad game."

The Last of Us Part II was a masterpiece, and probably the best game Naughty Dog has made to date.

[outsider1624]

Yeah we played it and it was incredible. Sorry we don't follow your mentality of whatever agenda you have, we just play the game.

[Yui_Suzumiya]

First I'd say to lay off the Whippits before you ever make another post again, lol

[mastershredder]

Coming from the mouth of gaming's biggest Mainstream pandering shills.

[Miacosa]

This quote is getting overblown big time. We can already see the dumb console warriors wringing their hands in wait to throw it back out and say whatever Naughty Dog does is sh!t.

[Huey_My_D_Long]

Please do a better job on pacing. I would have enjoyed TLOU2 more if it wasn't for the time jumps and flash backs. But lets see what else these guys can cook!

[chicken_in_the_corn]

After how bad TLOU2 was, they can keep it.

[romulus23]

TLOU2 still holds a 93 Meta score so you can keep trying but you're not convincing anyone.

[HyperMoused]

So an all power lesbian game...rock on