HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Neil Druckmann (; born December5, 1978) is an Israeli–American writer, creative director, designer, and programmer. He is the studio head and head of creative of the video game developer
Naughty Dog Naughty Dog, LLC (formerly JAM Software, Inc.) is an American first-party video game developer based in Santa Monica, California. Founded by Andy Gavin and Jason Rubin in 1984, the studio was acquired by Sony Computer Entertainment in 2001. G ...
, and is best known for his work on the game franchises ''
Uncharted ''Uncharted'' is an action-adventure video game series and media franchise published by Sony Interactive Entertainment and developed by Naughty Dog. Created by Amy Hennig, the ''Uncharted'' franchise follows a group of treasure hunters who trav ...
'' and ''
The Last of Us ''The Last of Us'' is a 2013 action-adventure game developed by Naughty Dog and published by Sony Computer Entertainment. Players control Joel, a smuggler tasked with escorting a teenage girl, Ellie, across a post-apocalyptic United States ...
'', having co-created the latter as well as its television adaptation. Druckmann's first video game work came as an intern at Naughty Dog. In 2004, he became a programmer on ''
Jak 3 ''Jak 3'' is a 2004 action-adventure video game developed by Naughty Dog and published by Sony Computer Entertainment for the PlayStation 2. The game is the sequel to '' Jak II'' and serves as the conclusion of the trilogy. The story of the prev ...
'' (2004) and '' Jak X: Combat Racing'' (2005), before becoming a designer for '' Uncharted: Drake's Fortune'' (2007). He was co-lead game designer for '' Uncharted 2: Among Thieves'' (2009), which he co-wrote with Amy Hennig and Josh Scherr; the narrative was praised and received several accolades. He has also written comics, including the motion comic '' Uncharted: Eye of Indra'' (2009) and the graphic novels '' A Second Chance at Sarah'' (2010) and '' The Last of Us: American Dreams'' (2013). Druckmann co-led the development of ''
The Last of Us ''The Last of Us'' is a 2013 action-adventure game developed by Naughty Dog and published by Sony Computer Entertainment. Players control Joel, a smuggler tasked with escorting a teenage girl, Ellie, across a post-apocalyptic United States ...
'' (2013) and '' Uncharted 4: A Thief's End'' (2016) as writer and creative director, co-writing the latter with Scherr. He was promoted to vice president of Naughty Dog in 2018 while directing ''
The Last of Us Part II ''The Last of Us Part II'' is a 2020 action-adventure game developed by Naughty Dog and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Set four years after '' The Last of Us'' (2013), the game focuses on two playable characters in a post-apo ...
'' (2020), co-written with Halley Gross. He became co-president in 2020, head of creative in 2023, and studio head in 2024. Druckmann co-created and wrote the television adaptation of ''The Last of Us'' with
Craig Mazin Craig Mazin (born 1971) is an American writer, director, and producer. He is best known for creating, writing, and producing the HBO historical disaster drama miniseries ''Chernobyl (miniseries), Chernobyl'' (2019) and co-creating, co-writing, an ...
and directed several episodes. He is the director of the upcoming game '' Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet'' and co-writer with Claire Carré. He 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 This is a list of video games that video game journalists or magazines have considered among the best of all time. The games are included on at least six separate best-of lists from different publications (inclusive of all time periods, platfor ...
. Druckmann has received several awards, including three
British Academy Games Awards The BAFTA Games Awards or British Academy Games Awards are an annual British awards ceremony honouring "outstanding creative achievement" in the video game industry. First presented in 2004 following the restructuring of the BAFTA Interactive En ...
, four
D.I.C.E. Awards The D.I.C.E. Awards (formerly the Interactive Achievement Awards) is an annual awards show in the video game industry, and commonly referred to as the video game equivalent of the Academy Awards. The awards are arranged by the Academy of Inter ...
, two Game Awards, three
Game Developers Choice Awards The Game Developers Choice Awards are awards annually presented at the Game Developers Conference for outstanding video game developer, game developers and video game, games. Introduced in 2001, the Game Developers Choice Awards were preceded by ...
, and four
Writers Guild of America Awards The Writers Guild of America Awards is an award for film, television, and radio writing including both fiction and non-fiction categories given by the Writers Guild of America, East and Writers Guild of America West since 1949. Eligibility The ...
.


Early life

Neil Druckmann was born in
Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( or , ; ), sometimes rendered as Tel Aviv-Jaffa, and usually referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the Gush Dan metropolitan area of Israel. Located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline and with a popula ...
, Israel, on December 5, 1978, into a
Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...
family, the son of Yehudit (Judith) and Jerry Ilan Druckmann. Druckmann's family lived in
Ramat Aviv Ramat Aviv Alef or Ramat Aviv HaYeruka, and originally plainly Ramat Aviv (, ''lit.'' Spring Heights), is a neighborhood in northwest Tel Aviv, Israel. History Ramat Aviv was founded in 1950s following the great influx of immigrants from Eastern ...
until 1981, when they moved to Beit Aryeh, a settlement in the
West Bank The West Bank is located on the western bank of the Jordan River and is the larger of the two Palestinian territories (the other being the Gaza Strip) that make up the State of Palestine. A landlocked territory near the coast of the Mediter ...
which largely consisted of employees of
Israel Aerospace Industries Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI; ), is Israel's major aerospace and aviation manufacturer, producing aerial and astronautic systems for both military and civilian usage. It has 14,000 employees as of 2021. IAI is state-owned by the government ...
, including Druckmann's father, a flight test engineer. His grandparents lived in
Haifa Haifa ( ; , ; ) is the List of cities in Israel, third-largest city in Israel—after Jerusalem and Tel Aviv—with a population of in . The city of Haifa forms part of the Haifa metropolitan area, the third-most populous metropolitan area i ...
and Tel Aviv. Druckmann recalled violence was a frequent topic on the news and in conversations at home. As an escape, his older brother Emanuel introduced him to comic books, video games, and movies at a young age, such as ''
Pong ''Pong'' is a 1972 sports video game developed and published by Atari for arcades. It is one of the earliest arcade video games; it was created by Allan Alcorn as a training exercise assigned to him by Atari co-founder Nolan Bushnell, but B ...
''. These forms of entertainment, particularly video games by
Sierra Entertainment Sierra Entertainment, Inc. (formerly On-Line Systems and Sierra On-Line, Inc.) was an American video game developer and Video game publisher, publisher founded in 1979 by Ken Williams (game developer), Ken and Roberta Williams. The company is ...
and
LucasArts Lucasfilm Games (known as LucasArts between 1990 and 2021) is an American video game brand licensing, licensor, former video game developer and video game publisher, publisher, and a subsidiary of Lucasfilm. It was founded in May 1982 by George ...
, helped him learn English. He became interested in storytelling and wrote his own comic books. Druckmann moved to the United States with his family in 1989, attending middle school and high school in
Miami, Florida Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...
. He began to study a criminology
major Major most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits * People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames * Major and minor in musi ...
at
Florida State University Florida State University (FSU or Florida State) is a Public university, public research university in Tallahassee, Florida, United States. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida and a preeminent university in the s ...
(FSU), aiming to get experience as an
FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...
agent to use when writing thriller novels. His brother snuck him into E3 in the late 1990s, and he attended the conference again in 1998, 2000, and 2002, as well as
SIGGRAPH SIGGRAPH (Special Interest Group on Computer Graphics and Interactive Techniques) is an annual conference centered around computer graphics organized by ACM, starting in 1974 in Boulder, CO. The main conference has always been held in North ...
in 2002 and 2003. As an FSU student in 2001, he won a ''
Conker's Bad Fur Day ''Conker's Bad Fur Day'' is a 2001 Platformer, platform game produced by Rare (company), Rare for the Nintendo 64. The game follows Conker the Squirrel, Conker, a greedy, hard-drinking red squirrel who must return home to his girlfriend, Berri, ...
'' multiplayer competition organized by
Nintendo is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational video game company headquartered in Kyoto. It develops, publishes, and releases both video games and video game consoles. The history of Nintendo began when craftsman Fusajiro Yamauchi ...
and ''
Playboy ''Playboy'' (stylized in all caps) is an American men's Lifestyle journalism, lifestyle and entertainment magazine, available both online and in print. It was founded in Chicago in 1953 by Hugh Hefner and his associates, funded in part by a $ ...
''. While studying, he worked as a clerk at My Favorite Muffin and a salesman at
PacSun Pacific Sunwear of California, LLC, commonly known as PacSun, is an American retail clothing brand. The company sells lifestyle apparel, along with swim, footwear and accessories designed for teens and young adults. As of 2022, the company operate ...
. From July 2002, while living in
Tallahassee Tallahassee ( ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Florida. It is the county seat of and the only incorporated municipality in Leon County. Tallahassee became the capital of Florida, then the Florida Territory, in 1824. In 2024, the est ...
, Druckmann spent a year as a graphics research assistant at FSU's Visualization Lab. During this time, he and some friends began developing the game ''Pink-Bullet'' for
Linux Linux ( ) is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an kernel (operating system), operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991, by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically package manager, pac ...
and
Windows Windows is a Product lining, product line of Proprietary software, proprietary graphical user interface, graphical operating systems developed and marketed by Microsoft. It is grouped into families and subfamilies that cater to particular sec ...
. At one point, he wanted to be an animator, which required enlisting in art classes, but his parents forbade him from doing so. Druckmann realized programming was his preference after taking a lascs, and he began a
Bachelor of Computer Science The Bachelor of Computer Science (abbreviated BCompSc or BCS) is a bachelor's degree for completion of an undergraduate program in computer science. In general, computer science degree programs emphasize the mathematical and theoretical foundatio ...
with a
minor Minor may refer to: Common meanings * Minor (law), a person not under the age of certain legal activities. * Academic minor, a secondary field of study in undergraduate education Mathematics * Minor (graph theory), a relation of one graph to an ...
in math in December 2002, graduating ''
cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sout ...
'' the following year with a
grade point average Grading in education is the application of standardized Measurement, measurements to evaluate different levels of student achievement in a course. Grades can be expressed as letters (usually A to F), as a range (for example, 1 to 6), percentage ...
of 3.61. Due to his academic results, he was a member of the Golden Key Honor Society. He moved to
Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...
, where he attended
Carnegie Mellon University Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) is a private research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. The institution was established in 1900 by Andrew Carnegie as the Carnegie Technical Schools. In 1912, it became the Carnegie Institu ...
, and began his
master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...
in
entertainment technology Entertainment technology is the discipline of using manufactured or created components to enhance or make possible any sort of entertainment experience. Because entertainment categories are so broad, and because entertainment models the world in ...
in August 2003 at the Entertainment Technology Center. He took a game design class by Jesse Schell, which taught him philosophies about positive impacts of games he would later use, and a
virtual world A virtual world (also called a virtual space or spaces) is a Computer simulation, computer-simulated environment which may be populated by many simultaneous users who can create a personal Avatar (computing), avatar and independently explore th ...
s course by
Randy Pausch Randolph Frederick Pausch () (October 23, 1960 – July 25, 2008) was an American educator, a professor of computer science, human–computer interaction, and design at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Pausch l ...
, which taught him to become more collaborative. Druckmann worked as a visual effects artist for a friend's team around this time. In April 2004, he and Allan Blomquist developed the game ''Dikki Painguin in: TKO for the Third Reich'' for the
Nintendo Entertainment System The Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) is an 8-bit home video game console developed and marketed by Nintendo. It was first released in Japan on 15 July 1983 as the and was later released as the redesigned NES in several test markets in the ...
as students at Carnegie Mellon.


Career


Intern and programmer (2003–2005)

One of Druckmann's professors paid for him to attend the
Game Developers Conference The Game Developers Conference (GDC) is an annual conference for video game developers. The event includes an expo, networking events, and awards shows like the Game Developers Choice Award for Game of the Year, Game Developers Choice Awards and ...
(GDC) in 2003, where he attended a presentation by
Naughty Dog Naughty Dog, LLC (formerly JAM Software, Inc.) is an American first-party video game developer based in Santa Monica, California. Founded by Andy Gavin and Jason Rubin in 1984, the studio was acquired by Sony Computer Entertainment in 2001. G ...
co-founder
Jason Rubin Jason Rubin (born 1970) is an American video game director, writer, and comic book creator. He is best known for the '' Crash Bandicoot'' and '' Jak and Daxter'' series of games which were produced by Naughty Dog, the game development studio he ...
. After Druckmann "bugged" Rubin, the latter gave him his business card. Some time later, Rubin contacted Druckmann and offered him an
intern An internship is a period of work experience offered by an organization for a limited period of time. Once confined to medical graduates, internship is used to practice for a wide range of placements in businesses, non-profit organizations and g ...
position, a first for Naughty Dog. By the time Druckmann responded, the position had been taken. When encouraged to apply for internships by CMU, Druckmann reached out to Rubin for advice and was told about a new internship at the studio. He was put in contact with game director Evan Wells, who offered him the internship after an interview at GDC. During this time, he had also been offered an intern producer position at
Electronic Arts Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) is an American video game company headquartered in Redwood City, California. Founded in May 1982 by former Apple Inc., Apple employee Trip Hawkins, the company was a pioneer of the early home computer game industry ...
on ''
The Sims 2 ''The Sims 2'' is a 2004 social simulation video game developed by Maxis and published by Electronic Arts. It is the second major title in ''The Sims'' series, and is the sequel to ''The Sims''. The game was released for Microsoft Windows on ...
''; he extended the offer in order to attend Wells's interview. Druckmann joined Naughty Dog as a programming intern around May 2004. He began working on localization tools and gameplay programming on ''
Jak 3 ''Jak 3'' is a 2004 action-adventure video game developed by Naughty Dog and published by Sony Computer Entertainment for the PlayStation 2. The game is the sequel to '' Jak II'' and serves as the conclusion of the trilogy. The story of the prev ...
'' (2004). During this time, he offered assistance with additional design tasks. By the end of the internship in August, he was offered a full-time position by Wells and Stephen White, then co-presidents. He received credit for the second year of his master's degree through his work at Naughty Dog, earning the degree in 2005. He programmed the menu screens on '' Jak X: Combat Racing'' (2005), which he considered one of the most difficult tasks of his career, and continued to assist with smaller design tasks where possible.


Designer and writer (2005–2009)

During the development of ''Jak 3'' and ''Jak X'', Druckmann continually asked Wells about joining the design team. Wells restrained from transferring him, as he was originally employed as a programmer and lacked design experience, but agreed to review Druckmann's work if he completed them in his spare time. Druckmann iterated on several level designs with Wells's feedback, initially on
graph paper Graph paper, coordinate paper, grid paper, or squared paper is writing paper that is printed with fine lines making up a regular grid. It is available either as loose leaf paper or bound in notebooks or graph books. It is commonly found in mathe ...
and later using
Adobe Illustrator Adobe Illustrator is a vector graphics editor and Computer-aided design, design software developed and marketed by Adobe Inc., Adobe. Originally designed for the Apple Inc., Apple Mac (computer), Macintosh, development of Adobe Illustrator began ...
. Following the development of ''Jak X'', Wells concluded that Druckmann was skilled in design and gave him a design position for '' Jak and Daxter: The Lost Frontier''. Several months into development, Wells transferred Druckmann to work as a game designer on '' Uncharted: Drake's Fortune'' (2007), which was facing development troubles; High Impact Games took over work on ''The Lost Frontier'', which was released in 2009. In his position as game designer on ''Drake's Fortune'', he worked closely with Amy Hennig to construct the story, before working on '' Uncharted 2: Among Thieves'' (2009) as a lead game designer, becoming more involved with the core writing. In 2009, Druckmann worked on the motion comic '' Uncharted: Eye of Indra'' as writer and director. ''Eye of Indra'' tells the story of
Nathan Drake Nathan Drake ( Morgan) is a character and the protagonist of the ''Uncharted'' franchise, most notably in the Uncharted, video game series, developed by Naughty Dog. He appears in all mainline games: ''Uncharted: Drake's Fortune'', ''Uncharted 2 ...
prior to the events of ''Drake's Fortune''. Druckmann's first
graphic novel A graphic novel is a self-contained, book-length form of sequential art. The term ''graphic novel'' is often applied broadly, including fiction, non-fiction, and Anthology, anthologized work, though this practice is highly contested by comics sc ...
, '' A Second Chance at Sarah'', was published by Ape Entertainment in February 2010. With illustrations by artist Joysuke Wong, the novel relates Druckmann's interest in traveling back in time to meet his wife at a younger age, an idea he found "cute and poetic". He felt he shared many similarities with the protagonist, Johnny, and noted "a lot of Johnny's flaws and fears are based on isown shortcomings". Critics particularly praised Wong's illustrations and Druckmann's writing and character development.


Creative director (2010–2018)

Following the development of ''Uncharted 2'', Naughty Dog split into two teams to work on projects concurrently. With one team working on '' Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception'' (2011), co-presidents Evan Wells and Christophe Balestra chose Druckmann and Bruce Straley to lead
development Development or developing may refer to: Arts *Development (music), the process by which thematic material is reshaped * Photographic development *Filmmaking, development phase, including finance and budgeting * Development hell, when a proje ...
on a new game; Druckmann was chosen for his determination and talent for design. Though they were originally set to develop a new game in the ''
Jak and Daxter ''Jak and Daxter'' is a platform video game franchise created by Andy Gavin and Jason Rubin and owned by Sony Interactive Entertainment. The series was originally developed by Naughty Dog with a number of installments being outsourced to Re ...
'' series, the team felt that they "weren't doing service to the fans", and decided to create a new game, titled ''
The Last of Us ''The Last of Us'' is a 2013 action-adventure game developed by Naughty Dog and published by Sony Computer Entertainment. Players control Joel, a smuggler tasked with escorting a teenage girl, Ellie, across a post-apocalyptic United States ...
''. Druckmann was promoted to the game's creative director around a year into production. For ''The Last of Us'', Druckmann used a concept he created as a student at Carnegie Mellon: to merge the gameplay of ''
Ico is a 2001 action-adventure game developed and published by Sony Computer Entertainment for the PlayStation 2. It was designed and directed by Fumito Ueda, who wanted to create a minimalist game based on a "boy meets girl" concept. Originally ...
'' (2001), the setting of ''
Night of the Living Dead ''Night of the Living Dead'' is a 1968 American Independent film, independent zombie horror film directed, photographed, and edited by George A. Romero, written by Romero and John A. Russo, John Russo, produced by Russell Streiner and Karl Har ...
'' (1968), and the lead character of ''
Sin City ''Sin City'' is a series of neo-noir Comic book, comics by American comic book writer-artist Frank Miller. The first story originally appeared in ''Dark Horse Presents Fifth Anniversary Special'' (April 1991), and continued in ''Dark Horse Prese ...
'' (1991–2000). The protagonist would be tasked with protecting a young girl, but players would often assume control of the young girl, reversing the roles. He based ''The Last of Us'' on this concept, replacing the protagonist with Joel and naming the young girl
Ellie Ellie or Elly is a given name. The name stands on its own or can be a shortened form of any of the numerous female names beginning with the syllable El-, in particular Elizabeth, Eleanor, or Elvira. It can also be a short form of Elaine, Elena ...
. Druckmann intended ''The Last of Us'' to be "rooted firmly within reality", a departure from Naughty Dog's previous "light and loose" feeling. He took acting classes to better communicate with actors while directing. The game was released on June 14, 2013, with praise for Druckmann's work on the story. He earned numerous awards, including a
BAFTA The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA, ) is an independent trade association and charity that supports, develops, and promotes the arts of film, television and video games in the United Kingdom. In addition to its annual awa ...
, D.I.C.E. Award, Game Developers Choice Award,
Golden Joystick Award The Golden Joystick Awards, also known as the People's Gaming Awards, is a video game award ceremony; it awards the best video games of the year, as voted for originally by the British general public, but is now a global event that can be vote ...
, and
Writers Guild of America Award The Writers Guild of America Awards is an award for film, television, and radio writing including both fiction and non-fiction categories given by the Writers Guild of America, East and Writers Guild of America West since 1949. Eligibility Th ...
. ''The Last of Us'' is often regarded one of the best-written video games and one of the
greatest video games ever made This is a list of video games that video game journalists or magazines have considered among the best of all time. The games are included on at least six separate best-of lists from different publications (inclusive of all time periods, platfor ...
. Druckmann later worked on a
downloadable In computer networks, download means to ''receive'' data from a remote system, typically a server such as a web server, an FTP server, an email server, or other similar systems. This contrasts with uploading, where data is ''sent to'' a remote s ...
expansion pack An expansion pack, expansion set, supplement, or simply expansion, is an addition to an existing role-playing game, tabletop game, video game, collectible card game or Miniature wargaming, miniature wargame. An expansion may introduce new rules ...
, '' The Last of Us: Left Behind'', a prequel focusing on Ellie's relationship with her friend Riley, which received in February 2014 to critical acclaim. He earned additional accolades for his work on ''Left Behind'', including a second BAFTA and Writers Guild of America Award. In particular, he was praised for writing a scene involving a kiss between two female characters, which was named a "breakthrough moment" for video games. He also co-wrote the four-issue comic book miniseries '' The Last of Us: American Dreams'' with co-writer and artist Faith Erin Hicks. It was published by
Dark Horse Comics Dark Horse Comics is an American comic book, graphic novel, manga and Artist's book, art book publisher founded in Milwaukie, Oregon, by Mike Richardson in 1986. The company was created using funds earned from Richardson's chain of Portland, O ...
, with the first issue released in April 2013, and was lauded for Druckmann's writing and character development. In March 2014,
Sony is a Japanese multinational conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at Sony City in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. The Sony Group encompasses various businesses, including Sony Corporation (electronics), Sony Semiconductor Solutions (i ...
announced that Druckmann was writing a film adaptation of ''The Last of Us'', produced by
Sam Raimi Samuel M. Raimi ( ; born October 23, 1959) is an American filmmaker. He is best known for directing the first three films in the ''Evil Dead'' franchise (1981–present) and the ''Spider-Man'' trilogy (2002–2007). He also directed the super ...
and distributed by
Screen Gems Screen Gems is an American film production company owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment, a subsidiary of Japanese conglomerate, Sony Group Corporation. ''Screen Gems'' has served several different purposes for its parent companies over the de ...
. By January 2015, he had written the script's second draft, and performed a
read-through The read-through, table-read, or table work is a stage of film, television, radio, and theatre production when an organized reading of the screenplay or script is conducted around a table by the actors with speaking parts. In addition to the ...
with some actors. Very little work occurred following this, as Druckmann stated in April 2016 that the film had entered
development hell Development hell, also known as development purgatory or development limbo, is media and software industry jargon for a project, concept, or idea that remains in a stage of early development for a long time because of legal, technical, or artistic ...
, and in February 2018 said "I don't want that movie to be made." Following Hennig's departure from Naughty Dog in March 2014, it was announced that Druckmann and Straley were working on '' Uncharted 4: A Thief's End'' (2016) as creative director and game director, respectively. Initial reports claimed that Hennig was "forced out" of Naughty Dog by Druckmann and Straley, though Wells and Balestra later denied this. Druckmann co-wrote the story alongside Scherr; Druckmann considered Scherr the "funny one", letting him write the humor of ''Uncharted 4'' due to Druckmann's self-professed inability to write jokes. He appreciated the collaboration of writing on ''Uncharted 4'', having written ''The Last of Us'' almost entirely independently. The game was released on May 10, 2016, and praised for its story. It was awarded Best Narrative at
the Game Awards 2016 The Game Awards 2016 was an award show that honored the best video games of 2016. It was produced and hosted by Geoff Keighley at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles on December 1, 2016, and was live streamed across several platforms. During th ...
and Outstanding Achievement in Videogame Writing at the 69th Writers Guild of America Awards. Dave Meikleham of ''
GamesRadar+ ''GamesRadar+'' (formerly ''GamesRadar'') is an entertainment website for video game-related news, previews, and reviews. It is owned by Future plc. In late 2014, Future Publishing-owned sites ''Total Film'', '' SFX'', '' Edge'' and '' Compute ...
'' found ''Uncharted 4'' among the best-written video games, and it is often regarded as among the greatest games. Druckmann acted as head of narrative development for '' Uncharted: The Lost Legacy'' (2017), worked as a playtester for ''
What Remains of Edith Finch ''What Remains of Edith Finch'' is a First-person (video games), first-person adventure game, exploration video game developed by Giant Sparrow and published by Annapurna Interactive. The game was released in 2017 for PlayStation 4, Windows, and ...
'' (2017), and was featured as a guest judge on an episode of '' Face Off'' in August 2017.


Studio leadership (2018–present)

Druckmann was promoted to vice president of Naughty Dog in March 2018. He returned as creative director for ''
The Last of Us Part II ''The Last of Us Part II'' is a 2020 action-adventure game developed by Naughty Dog and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Set four years after '' The Last of Us'' (2013), the game focuses on two playable characters in a post-apo ...
'' (2020), co-writing the game alongside Halley Gross; Straley did not return to co-direct the game. The game's themes of revenge and retribution were inspired by Druckmann's own experiences growing up in Israel, where violence was a frequent topic. He specifically recalled watching footage of the
2000 Ramallah lynching The 2000 Ramallah lynchingSources describing the event as a "lynching": * * * * was an attack that took place early during the Second Intifada on 12 October 2000 in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, when a Palestinian crowd of passing fune ...
, 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. He wanted the player to feel a "thirst for revenge" before making them realize the reality of their actions. Two warring factions in the game were partly inspired by the
tribalism Tribalism is the state of being organized by, or advocating for, tribes or tribal lifestyles. Human evolution primarily occurred in small hunter-gatherer groups, as opposed to in larger and more recently settled agricultural societies or civilizat ...
and righteousness of the parties in the
Israeli–Palestinian conflict The Israeli–Palestinian conflict is an ongoing military and political conflict about Territory, land and self-determination within the territory of the former Mandatory Palestine. Key aspects of the conflict include the Israeli occupation ...
, but it was not intended as an allegory of the conflict nor an explicit depiction of both sides. 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 Last of Us Part II'' released on June 19, 2020, to critical acclaim. Some critics praised the writing for its nuance and effectiveness, while others criticized its pacing and repetition of themes. The audience backlash towards the story led to Druckmann becoming the target of online hate and death threats, which were condemned by Naughty Dog. Druckmann makes a brief
cameo appearance A cameo appearance, also called a cameo role and often shortened to just cameo (), is a brief guest appearance of a well-known person or character in a work of the performing arts. These roles are generally small, many of them non-speaking on ...
in the game as the voice of Briggs, a Washington Liberation Front soldier. An
Easter egg Easter eggs, also called Paschal eggs, are eggs that are decorated for the Christian holiday of Easter, which celebrates the resurrection of Jesus. As such, Easter eggs are commonly used during the season of Eastertide (Easter season). The ...
in the game's collectible trading cards also references Druckmann in the fictional character Doctor Uckmann. ''The Last of Us Part II'' won more than 320 Game of the Year awards, which several outlets claimed broke the record set by '' The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt'' (2015); it was later surpassed by ''
Elden Ring is a 2022 action role-playing game developed by FromSoftware and published by Bandai Namco Entertainment. It was directed by Hidetaka Miyazaki with worldbuilding provided by the American fantasy writer George R. R. Martin. It was released o ...
'' (2022). For their work on the game, Druckmann and Gross were awarded at the
D.I.C.E. Awards The D.I.C.E. Awards (formerly the Interactive Achievement Awards) is an annual awards show in the video game industry, and commonly referred to as the video game equivalent of the Academy Awards. The awards are arranged by the Academy of Inter ...
,
The Game Awards The Game Awards is an annual awards ceremony honoring achievements in the video game industry. Established in 2014, the shows are produced and hosted by game journalist Geoff Keighley. After working on its predecessor, the Spike Video Game Awar ...
,
Game Developers Choice Awards The Game Developers Choice Awards are awards annually presented at the Game Developers Conference for outstanding video game developer, game developers and video game, games. Introduced in 2001, the Game Developers Choice Awards were preceded by ...
, Golden Joystick Awards,
SXSW Gaming Awards The SXSW Gaming Awards were awards given to video games during the annual South by Southwest Festival (SXSW), held in Austin, Texas typically in March of that year. The Awards were part of the SXSW Gaming Expo which is part of the SXSW Interactive ...
, and Titanium Awards. Druckmann was also nominated at the Visual Effects Society Awards. ''The Last of Us Part II'' is often regarded as among the best-written video games and among the greatest ever made. Druckmann was promoted to co-president of Naughty Dog, serving alongside Wells, on December 4, 2020. He was included on the '' Variety500'' list in December 2020, identifying the most influential business leaders in the media industry. Druckmann was an executive producer on the film ''
Uncharted ''Uncharted'' is an action-adventure video game series and media franchise published by Sony Interactive Entertainment and developed by Naughty Dog. Created by Amy Hennig, the ''Uncharted'' franchise follows a group of treasure hunters who trav ...
'' (2022); to promote the film, he appeared on Sony's ''Creator to Creator'' series alongside actor
Tom Holland Thomas Stanley Holland (born 1 June 1996) is an English actor. The recipient of numerous accolades, including a BAFTA Award, he featured on the ''Forbes'' 30 Under 30 Europe list of 2019. Some publications have called him one of the most ...
, director
Ruben Fleischer Ruben Samuel Fleischer (; born October 31, 1974) is an American film director, film producer, television producer, music video director, and commercial director. He is best known as the director of ''Zombieland'' (2009), his first feature film, a ...
, and producer Asad Qizilbash. With
Craig Mazin Craig Mazin (born 1971) is an American writer, director, and producer. He is best known for creating, writing, and producing the HBO historical disaster drama miniseries ''Chernobyl (miniseries), Chernobyl'' (2019) and co-creating, co-writing, an ...
, Druckmann is a writer and executive producer on the television adaptation of ''The Last of Us'' for
HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American pay television service, which is the flagship property of namesake parent-subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is based a ...
. Druckmann directed an episode in October and November 2021; he felt his experience reinforced and reflected his experience in directing games. 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. The series premiered in January 2023 to positive reviews; several critics considered it the best live-action adaptation of a video game and praised the differences implemented by Mazin and Druckmann. Several critics praised Druckmann's directing on the second episode; ''Total Film''s Russell praised his "keen eye for beauty in this shattered world", citing a shot of a frog on a piano as a standout. Druckmann was nominated for two awards and won one at the
Writers Guild of America Awards The Writers Guild of America Awards is an award for film, television, and radio writing including both fiction and non-fiction categories given by the Writers Guild of America, East and Writers Guild of America West since 1949. Eligibility The ...
for the series. In December 2021, Druckmann presented
Game of the Year Game of the Year (GotY) is an award given to a video game by various award events and media publications that they feel represented the pinnacle of gaming that year. Events and ceremonies British Academy Games Awards (BAFTA Games Awards) ...
at
The Game Awards The Game Awards is an annual awards ceremony honoring achievements in the video game industry. Established in 2014, the shows are produced and hosted by game journalist Geoff Keighley. After working on its predecessor, the Spike Video Game Awar ...
. He had a cameo voice appearance in ''
Return to Monkey Island ''Return to Monkey Island'' is a point-and-click adventure game developed by Terrible Toybox and published by Devolver Digital in association with Lucasfilm Games. The sixth ''Monkey Island'' game, it was released for macOS, Nintendo Switch, and ...
'' (2022). In April 2023, Druckmann wrote about
Hidetaka Miyazaki is a Japanese video game director, designer, writer, and president of the game developer FromSoftware. He joined the company in 2004 and was a designer for the '' Armored Core'' series before receiving wider recognition for creating the ''Dark ...
, president and game director at
FromSoftware FromSoftware, Inc. is a Japanese video game developer and publisher. Founded by Naotoshi Zin on November 1, 1986 as a business software developer, the company released their first video game, '' King's Field'', for the PlayStation in 1994. Its s ...
, for ''
Time Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...
''s list of 100 influential people, naming Miyazaki's ''Elden Ring'' (2022) "a great ambassador for video games". In July, Wells announced he would retire from Naughty Dog by the year's end, making Druckmann the studio head and head of creative. Druckmann worked on the ''Last of Us''-themed
haunted house A haunted house, spook house or ghost house in ghostlore is a house or other building often perceived as being inhabited by disembodied spirits of the deceased who may have been former residents or were otherwise connected with the property ...
with Halloween Horror Nights, which ran at
Universal Studios Hollywood Universal Studios Hollywood is a film studio and Amusement park, theme park located in Universal City, California, near Hollywood, Los Angeles. It is one of the oldest and most famous Hollywood film studios still in use. Its official marketin ...
and
Orlando Orlando commonly refers to: * Orlando, Florida, a city in the United States Orlando may also refer to: People * Orlando (given name), a masculine name, includes a list of people with the name * Orlando (surname), includes a list of people wit ...
from September to October 2023. He had broached the idea in December 2021, and collaborated with Universal, rewriting the script to fit the characters' voices. Druckmann received the Andrew Yoon Legend Award at the 13th Annual
New York Game Awards The New York Game Awards is an annual award show honoring video games by nonprofit New York Videogame Critics Circle (NYVGCC). The first awards were held in 2012, honoring previous year's contributions to the video game industry and showcases ...
in January 2024, and was named among the ''
Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...
''s influential Los Angeles-based creators in June and ''Variety''s top entertainment gaming leaders in November. In May 2024, Sony published an interview with Druckmann as part of its
corporate strategy In the field of management, strategic management involves the formulation and implementation of the major goals and initiatives taken by an organization's managers on behalf of stakeholders, based on consideration of Resource management, resources ...
event. Some quotes attributed to Druckmann were criticized by developers, journalists, and gamers, including that his next game "could redefine mainstream perceptions of gaming", which was described as "overly boastful", and that
artificial intelligence Artificial intelligence (AI) is the capability of computer, computational systems to perform tasks typically associated with human intelligence, such as learning, reasoning, problem-solving, perception, and decision-making. It is a field of re ...
would "revolutionize how content is being created" despite some "
ethical issues Ethics is the philosophical study of moral phenomena. Also called moral philosophy, it investigates normative questions about what people ought to do or which behavior is morally right. Its main branches include normative ethics, applied ethics ...
", which some saw as incongruous with Naughty Dog's focus on nuanced and personal storytelling. Druckmann later stated the former quote was "not quite what I said" and some words and context were removed during editing. Sony subsequently removed the interview after finding "several significant errors and inaccuracies", and apologized to Druckmann. For the second season of ''The Last of Us'', based on ''Part II'', Druckmann and Mazin were joined in the
writers' room A writers' room is a space where writers, usually of a television series, gather to write and refine scripts. It is a common method of writing television series in the US, but is much less widespread in countries like the UK. Composition The ...
by Gross and Bo Shim. Druckmann worked on the story during development of '' The Last of Us Part II Remastered'' (2024), allowing him to revisit and analyze its decisions and intricacies. He considered himself biased when adapting the "intimately familiar" story and tried to keep an open mind with changes; he and Mazin generally agreed. Druckmann co-wrote the final two episodes with Gross and Mazin, and directed " The Price" from around May to July 2024; the season premiered in 2025. Several reviewers considered "The Price" the season's best episode; ''
The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...
''s Gene Park called it the season's "best shot, best paced and best written", and Druckmann's direction was praised. He was submitted for Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series at the 77th Primetime Emmy Awards. At
Summer Game Fest Summer Game Fest is a live video game event organized and hosted by game journalist Geoff Keighley. The event takes place annually over multiple live streams during the North American summer period, the most notable of which is the "main show ...
in June 2022, 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. In August, Druckmann revealed he was writing and directing the game, for which he later said was the "most excited he has ever been". The game, '' Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet'', was announced at
the Game Awards The Game Awards is an annual awards ceremony honoring achievements in the video game industry. Established in 2014, the shows are produced and hosted by game journalist Geoff Keighley. After working on its predecessor, the Spike Video Game Awar ...
in December 2024. It has been in development since 2020. Druckmann is leading development alongside co-game directors Matthew Gallant and Kurt Margenau and co-writer and narrative director Claire Carré. He is also working in a producing capacity on an unannounced game at Naughty Dog. Druckmann enjoyed splitting his time between projects, particularly in returning to Naughty Dog and seeing the work done by Gallant, Margenau, and Carré. In 2025, he featured on an episode of ''Creator to Creator'' alongside film director
Alex Garland Alexander Medawar Garland (born 26 May 1970) is an English author, screenwriter, and director. He rose to prominence with his novel '' The Beach'' (1996). He received praise for writing the Danny Boyle films '' 28 Days Later'' (2002) and '' Sun ...
.


Writing style

Druckmann realized his writing philosophy when talking to game designer Cory Barlog: "simple story, complex characters". He dislikes video games with complicated exposition but enjoys writing complex character relationships. Throughout his writing, Druckmann approaches scenes with focus on every character, attempting to enter each one's mindset, and tries to ignore character
trope Trope or tropes may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Trope (cinema), a cinematic convention for conveying a concept * Trope (literature), a figure of speech or common literary device * Trope (music), any of a variety of different things in medi ...
s in an attempt to write "honestly". He writes with a minimalist mindset, often asking himself the true meaning behind each scene: "What's the least we have to say or do to convey that and no more?" Before writing ''The Last of Us'' and ''Uncharted 4'', Druckmann and Straley created entire outlines of the story, before exploring the narrative more intricately, discussing the "moment-to-moment beats" of each level that lead to a bigger event. They began with the middle of the story, as it is the core of the gameplay and narrative, before exploring the climax and character development. ''The Frame'' host John Horn identified a repeating theme in Druckmann's stories, including ''A Second Chance at Sarah'' and ''The Last of Us'': characters attempting or hoping to alter their past in some way; Druckmann admitted he had not noticed this trend, though agreed with it and recognized its recurrence.


Influences

Druckmann cites game writer Sam Lake as a large inspiration, naming himself a "longtime fan". Druckmann's favorite video games include '' Monkey Island 2: LeChuck's Revenge'' (1991), ''Ico'', '' Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty'' (2001), and ''
Resident Evil 4 ''Resident Evil 4'' is a 2005 survival horror game developed and published by Capcom for the GameCube. Players control the special agent Leon S. Kennedy on a mission to rescue the US president's daughter, Ashley Graham (Resident Evil), Ashley ...
'' (2005), and he is often inspired by character-focused comics such as ''
Preacher A preacher is a person who delivers sermons or homilies on religious topics to an assembly of people. Less common are preachers who Open-air preaching, preach on the street, or those whose message is not necessarily religious, but who preach com ...
'' (1995–2000), and '' Y: The Last Man'' (2002–2008). He was influenced by the character-driven storytelling in Sierra games like ''
King's Quest ''King's Quest'' is a graphic adventure game series, released between 1980 and 2016 and created by the American software company Sierra Entertainment. It is widely considered a classic series from the golden era of adventure games. Following ...
'' and ''
Space Quest ''Space Quest'' is a series of six comic science fiction adventure games released between 1986 and 1995. The games follow the adventures of a hapless janitor named #Protagonist, Roger Wilco, who campaigns through the galaxy for "truth, justice, ...
''. While writing ''The Last of Us'', Druckmann was inspired by several films, including: ''
Unforgiven ''Unforgiven'' is a 1992 American revisionist Western film produced and directed by Clint Eastwood from a screenplay by David Webb Peoples. It stars Eastwood as William Munny, an aging outlaw and killer who takes on one more job years after ...
'' (1992), for its ability to make audiences support the protagonist despite his immorality; ''
No Country for Old Men ''No Country for Old Men'' is a 2007 American neo-Western crime thriller film written, directed, produced and edited by Joel and Ethan Coen, based on Cormac McCarthy's 2005 novel. Starring Tommy Lee Jones, Javier Bardem, and Josh Brolin ...
'' (2007), due to its subtle and sparse execution, forcing audience engagement; and ''
Gravity In physics, gravity (), also known as gravitation or a gravitational interaction, is a fundamental interaction, a mutual attraction between all massive particles. On Earth, gravity takes a slightly different meaning: the observed force b ...
'' (2013), in regards to simplicity and intensity.


Views

Druckmann is a regular advocate of gender equality in video games, citing
Anita Sarkeesian Anita Sarkeesian ( ; born 1983) is a Canadian-American feminist media critic. She is the founder of ''#Feminist Frequency, Feminist Frequency'', a website that hosts videos and commentary analyzing portrayals of women in popular culture. Her v ...
as an influence; he presented the Ambassador Award to Sarkeesian at the 2014 Game Developers Choice Awards and regularly advocated her projects. When Druckmann found that he regularly wrote about "white, straight, Christian male" characters, he was prompted to instead add diversity. ''The Last of Us''s Ellie was initially received negatively in early focus tests. 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. Druckmann and Straley were surprised by some of the backlash to gender roles in ''The Last of Us'', although Druckmann noted that "the more progress we make, the more those problems stand out". He declared it a "misconception" that female protagonists hinder game sales, evidenced by the success of ''The Last of Us''. Throughout the development of ''Uncharted 4'', he was influenced by concept artist Ashley Swidowski to include more female characters in the game, praising her for "constantly challenging me and pushing for diversity in our cast". Upon focus testers' criticism regarding the inclusion and portrayal of female characters in ''Uncharted 4'', one of whom was forced to leave due to an outburst, Druckmann expressed "Wow, why does that matter?"


Personal life

Druckmann resides with his children in
Santa Monica, California Santa Monica (; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast (California), South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 United Sta ...
, where he bought a property in 2019; his house was styled by designer
Kim Gordon Kim Althea Gordon (born April 28, 1953) is an American musician, singer and songwriter best known as the bassist, guitarist, and vocalist of alternative rock band Sonic Youth. Born in Rochester, New York, she was raised in Los Angeles, Califor ...
. 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. He found her birth reinforced his ideas about family as he realized he would "do anything" for her. 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 Druckmann. In his spare time, Druckmann plays the guitar and joins his children in playing video games such as ''
Animal Crossing is a social simulation video game series developed and published by Nintendo. It was created by Katsuya Eguchi and Hisashi Nogami. The player character is a human who lives in a village inhabited by various anthropomorphic animals and can ...
'' and ''
Pokémon is a Japanese media franchise consisting of List of Pokémon video games, video games, Pokémon (TV series), animated series and List of Pokémon films, films, Pokémon Trading Card Game, a trading card game, and other related media. The fran ...
''. Druckmann has a dent in his skull from being accidentally struck in the head with a
golf club A golf club is a club used to hit a golf ball in a game of golf. Each club is composed of a shaft with a grip and a club head. Woods are mainly used for long-distance fairway or tee shots; irons, the most versatile class, are used for a variety o ...
by a friend at the age of 16, which required 30 stitches. On his first day as director on ''The Last of Us'', he suffered from headaches and began seeing double; he discovered the following day that he required emergency eye surgery, as an infection threatened the vision in his left eye. During production of ''The Last of Us Part II'', he practiced
intermittent fasting Intermittent fasting is any of various meal timing schedules that cycle between voluntary fasting (or reduced calorie intake) and non-fasting over a given period. Methods of intermittent fasting include alternate-day fasting, periodic fasting, ...
, which is referenced in one of the game's collectible cards. Early in pre-production on the television adaptation of ''The Last of Us'', Druckmann and Mazin agreed to get matching tattoos of Ellie's switchblade if the series was successful; Mazin got his tattoo in February 2023, followed by Druckmann in March. Druckmann speaks
Hebrew Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...
and English, though says his "Hebrew isn't that good". He holds American citizenship, having voted and promoted voting in the 2016 presidential election, 2018 midterm elections, 2020 primary elections, and 2020 presidential election. Druckmann donated to
NARAL Pro-Choice America Reproductive Freedom for All, formerly NARAL Pro-Choice America and commonly known as simply NARAL ( ), is a non-profit 501(c)(4) organization in the United States that engages in lobbying, politics, political action, and advocacy efforts to op ...
following the decision of ''
Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization ''Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization'', 597 U.S. 215 (2022), is a List of landmark court decisions in the United States, landmark decision of the Supreme Court of the United States, United States Supreme Court in which the court held ...
'' in June 2022, and each to both Israeli and Palestinian emergency response teams during the
Gaza war The Gaza war is an armed conflict in the Gaza Strip and southern Israel fought since 7 October 2023. A part of the unresolved Israeli–Palestinian conflict, Israeli–Palestinian and Gaza–Israel conflict, Gaza–Israel conflicts dating ...
in October 2023.


Works


Video games

;Other credits * 2017 – ''
What Remains of Edith Finch ''What Remains of Edith Finch'' is a First-person (video games), first-person adventure game, exploration video game developed by Giant Sparrow and published by Annapurna Interactive. The game was released in 2017 for PlayStation 4, Windows, and ...
'' (playtester) * 2018 – '' A Way Out'' (directors thanks) * 2020 – ''
Ghost of Tsushima In folklore, a ghost is the soul or spirit of a dead person or non-human animal that is believed by some people to be able to appear to the living. In ghostlore, descriptions of ghosts vary widely, from an invisible presence to translucen ...
'' (special thanks) * 2022 – ''
Return to Monkey Island ''Return to Monkey Island'' is a point-and-click adventure game developed by Terrible Toybox and published by Devolver Digital in association with Lucasfilm Games. The sixth ''Monkey Island'' game, it was released for macOS, Nintendo Switch, and ...
'' (cameo voice role)


Film and television

;Appearances * 2013 – ''Grounded: Making The Last of Us'' (documentary) * 2013 – ''Between the Lines with Barry Kibrick'' (season 13, episode 25) * 2013 – '' How Videogames Changed the World'' (documentary) * 2015 – ''Conversations with Creators'' (web series; episode 2) * 2017 – ''The Game Makers: Inside Story'' (web series; 5 episodes) * 2017 – '' Face Off'' (season 12, episode 7: "Feral Fungi") * 2024 – ''Grounded: Making The Last of Us Part II'' (documentary)


Literature


Awards and nominations


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Druckmann, Neil 1978 births 21st-century American screenwriters 21st-century American writers American chief executives American feminists American male feminists American people of Israeli descent American television directors American television writers American video game designers American video game directors American video game writers BAFTA winners (people) Carnegie Mellon University alumni Creative directors The Game Awards winners Hugo Award–winning writers Israeli chief executives Israeli Jews Israeli settlers Israeli television directors Israeli television writers Jewish American television writers Living people Naughty Dog people People from the West Bank Uncharted University of Florida alumni Writers from Los Angeles Writers from Tel Aviv Writers Guild of America Award winners