78 Facts About Neil Druckmann

Neil Druckmann is the studio head and head of creative of the video game developer Naughty Dog, and is best known for his work on the game franchises Uncharted and The Last of Us, having co-created the latter.

Neil Druckmann was co-lead game designer for Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, which he co-wrote with Amy Hennig and Josh Scherr; the narrative was praised and received several accolades.

Neil Druckmann has written comics, including the motion comic Uncharted: Eye of Indra and the graphic novels A Second Chance at Sarah and The Last of Us: American Dreams.

Neil Druckmann co-led the development of The Last of Us as writer and creative director, roles he continued for The Last of Us: Left Behind and Uncharted 4: A Thief's End, co-writing the latter with Scherr.

Neil Druckmann co-created and wrote the television adaptation of The Last of Us with Craig Mazin, and directed several episodes.

Neil Druckmann was promoted to vice president of Naughty Dog in 2018 during the development of The Last of Us Part II, for which he was creative director and co-writer with Halley Gross.

Neil Druckmann became co-president in 2020, head of creative in 2023, and studio head in 2024.

Neil Druckmann is the director and writer of the upcoming game Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet.

Neil Druckmann earned praise for his writing and directing work on The Last of Us, Uncharted 4, and The Last of Us Part II, which are often regarded among the best-written and greatest video games ever made.

Neil Druckmann was born in Tel Aviv, Israel, on December 5,1978, into a Jewish family, the son of Yehudit and Jerry Ilan Druckmann.

Neil Druckmann's family lived in Ramat Aviv until 1981, when they moved to Beit Aryeh, a settlement in the West Bank which largely consisted of employees of Israel Aerospace Industries, including Neil Druckmann's father, a flight test engineer.

Neil Druckmann recalled violence was a frequent topic on the news and in conversations at home.

Neil Druckmann became interested in storytelling and wrote his own comic books.

Neil Druckmann moved to the United States with his family in 1989, attending middle school and high school in Miami, Florida.

Neil Druckmann began to study a criminology major at Florida State University, aiming to get experience as an FBI agent to use when writing thriller novels.

Neil Druckmann's brother snuck him into E3 in the late 1990s, and he attended the conference again in 1998,2000, and 2002, as well as SIGGRAPH in 2002 and 2003.

From July 2002, while living in Tallahassee, Neil Druckmann spent a year as a graphics research assistant at FSU's Visualization Lab.

Neil Druckmann moved to Pittsburgh, where he attended Carnegie Mellon University, and began his master's degree in entertainment technology in August 2003 at the Entertainment Technology Center.

Neil Druckmann worked as a visual effects artist for a friend's team around this time.

One of Neil Druckmann's professors paid for him to attend the Game Developers Conference in 2003, where he attended a presentation by Naughty Dog co-founder Jason Rubin.

Some time later, Rubin contacted Neil Druckmann and offered him an intern position, a first for Naughty Dog.

When encouraged to apply for internships by CMU, Neil Druckmann reached out to Rubin for advice, and was told about a new internship at the studio.

Neil Druckmann was put in contact with game director Evan Wells, who offered him the internship after an interview at GDC.

Neil Druckmann began working on localization tools and gameplay programming on Jak 3.

Neil Druckmann received credit for the second year of his master's degree through his work at Naughty Dog, earning the degree in 2005.

Neil Druckmann programmed the menu screens on Jak X: Combat Racing, which he considered one of the most difficult tasks of his career.

Neil Druckmann continued to assist with smaller design tasks where possible.

Neil Druckmann iterated on several level designs with Wells's feedback, initially on graph paper and later using Adobe Illustrator.

In 2009, Neil Druckmann worked on the motion comic Uncharted: Eye of Indra, as writer and director.

Neil Druckmann felt that he shares many similarities with the novel's protagonist Johnny, and that "a lot of Johnny's flaws and fears are based on [his] own shortcomings".

The comic was originally released on February 24,2010; critics particularly praised Wong's illustrations, as well as Neil Druckmann's writing and character development.

When conceiving ideas for The Last of Us, Neil Druckmann used a concept that he created as a student at Carnegie Mellon University: to merge the gameplay of Ico, the setting of Night of the Living Dead, and the lead character of Sin City.

Neil Druckmann based The Last of Us on this concept, replacing the protagonist with Joel, and naming the young girl Ellie.

Neil Druckmann intended The Last of Us to be "rooted firmly within reality", a departure from Naughty Dog's previous "light and loose" feeling.

Neil Druckmann took acting classes to better communicate with actors while directing.

Neil Druckmann later worked on a downloadable expansion pack, The Last of Us: Left Behind, a prequel focusing on Ellie's relationship with her friend Riley, which received critical acclaim.

Neil Druckmann earned additional accolades for his work on Left Behind, including a second BAFTA and Writers Guild of America Award.

Neil Druckmann co-wrote the four-issue comic book miniseries The Last of Us: American Dreams, with writer and artist Faith Erin Hicks.

Neil Druckmann appreciated the collaboration of writing on Uncharted 4, having written The Last of Us almost entirely independently.

Neil Druckmann acted as head of narrative development for Uncharted: The Lost Legacy, released in August 2017.

In March 2014, Sony announced that Neil Druckmann was writing a film adaptation of The Last of Us, produced by Sam Raimi and distributed by Screen Gems.

Neil Druckmann was promoted to vice president of Naughty Dog in March 2018.

Neil Druckmann returned as creative director for The Last of Us Part II, co-writing the game alongside Halley Gross; Straley did not return to co-direct the game.

Neil Druckmann specifically recalled watching footage of the 2000 Ramallah lynching, and how, after hearing the cheering crowds, his mind immediately turned to violent thoughts about bringing the perpetrators to justice; he later felt "gross and guilty" for having these thoughts.

Neil Druckmann wanted the player to feel a "thirst for revenge" before making them realize the reality of their actions.

Neil Druckmann noted that some members of the team felt reluctant about the game's cynicism, but ultimately he preferred a divisive story than a "mundane" one.

The audience backlash towards the story led to Neil Druckmann becoming the target of online hate and death threats, which were condemned by Naughty Dog.

Neil Druckmann makes a brief cameo appearance in the game as the voice of Briggs, a Washington Liberation Front soldier.

Neil Druckmann was promoted to co-president of Naughty Dog, serving alongside Wells, on December 4,2020.

Neil Druckmann was included on the Variety500 list in December 2020, identifying the most influential business leaders in the media industry.

Neil Druckmann was an executive producer on the film Uncharted ; to promote the film, he appeared on Sony's Creator to Creator series alongside actor Tom Holland, director Ruben Fleischer, and producer Asad Qizilbash.

Neil Druckmann directed the second episode in October and November 2021; he felt his experience reinforced and reflected his experience in directing games.

Neil Druckmann noted the series was taking the opposite approach to adaptation than Uncharted; while Uncharted tells a new story with moments from the games to give "an Uncharted flavor", The Last of Us is a direct adaptation with minor deviations, allowing alterations such as changing character perspectives in a manner unachievable in an immersive game.

Several critics praised Neil Druckmann's directing on the second episode; Total Films Russell praised Neil Druckmann's "keen eye for beauty in this shattered world", citing a shot of a frog on a piano as a standout.

Neil Druckmann was nominated for two awards and won one at the Writers Guild of America Awards for the series.

In December 2021, Neil Druckmann presented Game of the Year at The Game Awards.

Neil Druckmann had a cameo voice appearance in Return to Monkey Island.

Neil Druckmann received the Andrew Yoon Legend Award at the 13th Annual New York Game Awards in January 2024, and was named among the Los Angeles Timess influential Los Angeles-based creators in June and Varietys top entertainment gaming leaders in November.

Neil Druckmann later stated the former quote was "not quite what I said" and some words and context were removed during editing.

Neil Druckmann co-wrote the final two episodes with Gross and Mazin, and directed the sixth episode from May to July 2024; the season was scheduled to air in 2025.

At Summer Game Fest in June 2022, Neil Druckmann revealed he was working on a new game; he later said he was assembling a writers' room to be "structured more like a TV show" than any of Naughty Dog's previous projects.

Neil Druckmann is leading development alongside co-game directors Matthew Gallant and Kurt Margenau.

Neil Druckmann featured on an episode of Creator to Creator alongside film director Alex Garland.

Neil Druckmann's writing philosophy, which he realized while talking to game designer Cory Barlog, is "simple story, complex characters"; Neil Druckmann dislikes video games with complicated exposition, but enjoys writing complex character relationships.

Neil Druckmann tries to ignore character tropes in an attempt to write "honestly".

The Frame host John Horn identified a repeating theme in Neil Druckmann's stories, including A Second Chance at Sarah and The Last of Us, is the concept of characters attempting or hoping to alter their past in some way; Neil Druckmann admitted he had not noticed this trend, though agreed with it and recognized its recurrence.

Neil Druckmann cites game writer Sam Lake as a large inspiration, naming himself a "longtime fan".

Neil Druckmann was influenced by the character-driven storytelling in Sierra games like King's Quest and Space Quest.

Neil Druckmann is a regular advocate of gender equality in video games, citing Anita Sarkeesian as an influence; he presented the Ambassador Award to Sarkeesian at the 2014 Game Developers Choice Awards, and regularly advocated her projects.

When Neil Druckmann found that he regularly wrote about "white, straight, Christian male" characters, he was prompted to instead create more diverse characters.

Neil Druckmann is proud that Ellie is a "strong, non-sexualized female lead character", and hoped that other developers would take similar approaches to characters without fear of unpopularity.

Neil Druckmann declared it a "misconception" that female protagonists hinder game sales, evidenced by the success of The Last of Us.

Neil Druckmann became a father during the development of The Last of Us, and has said his daughter was a "huge inspiration" to him when writing the game.

Neil Druckmann found the birth of his daughter reinforced his ideas about family, as he realized he would "do anything" for her.

Neil Druckmann's son was born around 2014; he was around the same age as Sam in the fifth episode of The Last of Us when it aired in 2023, making its events more emotional for Neil Druckmann.

Neil Druckmann has a dent in his skull from being accidentally struck in the head with a golf club by a friend at the age of 16, which required 30 stitches.

Neil Druckmann speaks Hebrew and English, though says his "Hebrew isn't that good".

Neil Druckmann holds American citizenship, having voted and promoted voting in the 2016 presidential election, 2018 midterm elections, 2020 primary elections, and 2020 presidential election.