The Last Of Us' Director Just Called Out PlayStation
"The Last of Us" franchise had a banner day on Thursday, June 9, but it was almost a much more momentous occasion. Naughty Dog Games, the developer behind the beloved post-apocalyptic action series, was saving a major announcement for the opening night ceremonies of this year's Summer Game Fest. However, an unfortunate leak from PlayStation ended up spoiling the surprise just a few hours before the big livestream. And if comments made by Naughty Dog boss and "The Last of Us" series director Neil Druckmann are anything to go by, he's not entirely pleased with the company that dropped the ball on keeping the remake a secret.
As revealed yesterday afternoon, the first game in the series is getting a glossy remake in the form of "The Last Of Us Part 1," which is slated for release later this year. Although the plan had been to reveal the remake as part of the grand finale for the Summer Game Fest livestream, PlayStation accidentally posted a link to the product page for the remake early in the afternoon of June 9. This listing not only confirmed the remake's existence for fans, but it also revealed the cover art for the game and a few details surrounding the deluxe "Firefly Edition" of the game.
Despite the spoilers, the show had to go on. At the tail end of the livestream, Summer Game Fest host Geoff Keighley invited Neil Druckmann onto the stage to share some details about the remake. Druckmann was more than happy to hype up the work he and his team had put into the revamped adventure, but he also couldn't help but get in a few digs at PlayStation's expense.
Neil Druckmann jokes about the PlayStation leak
At the top of the interview segment with Neil Druckmann, Geoff Keighley remarked, "It's been an eventful day on the internet for Naughty Dog fans," referring to the fervor surrounding the remake leak. Druckmann agreed, sharing an anecdote about the fact that he and Keighley had ironically just been joking about the possibility of a leak just like this. To this, Keighley pointed out that not everything from their presentation had leaked, which was a bit of a relief for both presenters.
Keighley asked Druckmann if he could share anything that's coming up for him and Naughty Dog, which led into a discussion of the upcoming standalone "Last of Us" multiplayer title and HBO's adaptation of "The Last of Us," on which Druckmann got to work as a director. Following some behind-the-scenes discussions of the show and the "Part 1" remake, Keighley jokingly asked if Druckmann was still directing and writing games himself. Druckmann responded by confirming that something new is in the works, but he used that opportunity to make a sly dig at PlayStation's fumble of the "Part 1" reveal.
"[I'm] still making games, I haven't given up my day job," Druckmann joked. "It's a little too early to talk about it. Maybe if someone in PlayStation wants to leak it then we could talk about it now, otherwise we'll save it... [I] do have a new project, but we'll save it for another Summer Game Fest." Although the fan response to the trailer for "The Last of Us Part 1" has been largely positive, it's obvious that the spoiled announcement was less than ideal for both Naughty Dog and Summer Game Fest.
What's next for Naughty Dog (and will it leak)?
It wasn't all frustration during the presentation, however. Over the course of his chat with Geoff Keighley, Neil Druckmann also expressed a great amount of excitement about the future of the franchise, particularly when it comes to the upcoming HBO series. Druckmann revealed a first look image of the episode he directed, which featured actors Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey as Joel and Ellie, respectively, hiding out from one of the games' terrifying Clickers. Druckmann also revealed that original game stars Troy Baker and Ashley Johnson would be featured in the TV series, playing different roles from the ones they essayed in the source material.
After bringing Johnson and Baker out on stage to talk about their experiences on the set of the TV series, Geoff Keighley expressed his excitement surrounding the project as a whole and tried to get a bit more info out of the three. Keighley asked whether Baker and Johnson were playing all-new characters or recognizable faces from the games, to which Druckmann responded cryptically with "Yes," drawing laughs from everyone on stage. Neil Druckmann took this moment to make one more joke about the nature of spoilers on the internet, quipping, "Maybe it's already on Twitter by now."