This much has been shared by an official blog post from Naughty Dog President Evan Wells, who stated that The Last of Us director has been “a vital part of the management team for some time,” and the decision to promote Druckman was done to recognize “his expanded role, [for] contributing on critical, studio level decisions.” According to Wells, this promotion won’t change Druckmann’s status as the Creative Director for The Last of Us: Part 2.
In addition to Druckmann’s newfound position as Vice President of Naughty Dog, Wells went on to announce that Anthony Newman and Kurt Margenau will be serving as the joint game directors on The Last of Us: Part 2. Following their involvement with the company during the development of Uncharted 2, both “have been instrumental in leading the design department, and have been key contributors on [its] subsequent games.” What’s more is that Naughty Dog has also named Emilia Schatz and Richard Cambier as lead designers.
Beyond the lofty new title that has now been given to Druckmann, it’s obvious that he’s heavily invested in The Last of Us: Part 2, as he recently discussed inspirations for the sequel, citing external creative sources that helped to refine the dialogue of the forthcoming followup to the original 2013 release. All things considered, it looks as if Naughty Dog is going all-in on the talents of Druckmann and his team, which will undoubtedly influence the company’s output of games in the near to distant future.
The Last of Us: Part 2 is currently in development for PlayStation 4.
Source: Naughty Dog
