Sony Pulls Controversial Interview With Naughty Dog’s Neil Druckmann After Finding ‘Several Significant Errors and Inaccuracies’

Sony has deleted a controversial interview with Naughty Dog chief Neil Druckmann after The Last of Us director called it out in a social media post.

The interview included quotes attributed to Druckmann that discussed views on everything from AI to Naughty Dog’s next game, which was said could “redefine mainstream perceptions of gaming”.

Druckmann then tweeted to say some of what made it into his interview with Sony was “not quite” what he said. “In editing my rambling answers in my recent interview with Sony, some of my words, context, and intent were unfortunately lost,” Druckmann added, before posting the “full long rambling answer for the final question about our future game”.

While Druckmann said this new project is “maybe the most excited” he’s been for one yet and “something really fresh for us”, he didn’t quite say, “it could redefine mainstream perceptions of gaming.” What he did additionally say was that he is “very excited to see what the reaction for this thing will be, and i’ve already said too much about it.”

In editing my rambling answers in my recent interview with SONY, some of my words, context, and intent were unfortunately lost. Well, here’s the full long rambling answer for the final question about our future game… pic.twitter.com/tVuxX3LYJF

— Neil Druckmann (@Neil_Druckmann) May 25, 2024

Druckmann’s tweet surprised many given Sony owns Naughty Dog, and we don’t often see developers call out their own corporate overlords. But given just how misrepresented Druckmann was in this case, it was perhaps an appropriate move. Now, following that exchange, Sony has issued a statement of its own, addressing the controversy while removing the original interview.

“In re-reviewing our recent interview with Naughty Dog’s Neil Druckmann, we have found several significant errors and inaccuracies that don’t represent his perspective and values (including topics such as animation, writing, technology, AI, and future projects),” Sony said.

“We apologize to Neil for misrepresenting his words and for any negative impact this interview might have caused him and his team. In coordination with Naughty Dog and SIE, we have removed the interview.”

Naughty Dog confirmed it was working on a new project in March 2023, and this will be the first new game from the studio since 2020’s The Last of Us: Part 2. Naughty Dog also confirmed in 2023 that it had cancelled its The Last of Us multiplayer game and would focus on single-player games going forward.

Photo by FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP via Getty Images.

Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at [email protected] or confidentially at [email protected].