Neil Druckmann facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Neil Druckmann
ניל דרוקמן
Druckmann at the Emmy Awards in 2024
Born	(1978-12-05) December 5, 1978 (age 46) Tel Aviv, Israel
Alma mater	Carnegie Mellon University
Occupation	Writer creative director designer programmer
Years active	2004–present
Employer	Naughty Dog
Notable work	Uncharted The Last of Us
Title	Studio head head of creative
Signature

Neil Druckmann (Hebrew: ניל דרוקמן; born December 5, 1978) is a writer, creative director, designer, and programmer from Israel and America. He is a top leader at Naughty Dog, a company that makes video games. He is famous for his work on popular game series like Uncharted and The Last of Us. He even helped create The Last of Us.

Druckmann started his video game career as an intern at Naughty Dog. In 2004, he worked as a programmer on games like Jak 3 and Jak X: Combat Racing. Later, he became a designer for Uncharted: Drake's Fortune (2007). He was a main game designer for Uncharted 2: Among Thieves (2009). He also helped write this game with Amy Hennig and Josh Scherr. The story of Uncharted 2 was highly praised and won many awards.

He has also written comics. These include the motion comic Uncharted: Eye of Indra (2009) and graphic novels like A Second Chance at Sarah (2010) and The Last of Us: American Dreams (2013).

Druckmann was a main leader in making The Last of Us (2013). He was the writer and creative director for this game. He continued these roles for The Last of Us: Left Behind (2014) and Uncharted 4: A Thief's End (2016). He co-wrote Uncharted 4 with Josh Scherr. Druckmann also helped create and write The Last of Us TV show with Craig Mazin. He directed several episodes of the show.

In 2018, he became a vice president at Naughty Dog while they were making The Last of Us Part II (2020). For this game, he was the creative director and co-writer with Halley Gross. He became co-president in 2020 and studio head in 2024. He is now directing and writing a new game called Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet.

People have praised his writing and directing for The Last of Us, Uncharted 4, and The Last of Us Part II. These games are often seen as some of the best-written and greatest video games ever made. Druckmann has won many awards. These include three British Academy Games Awards and four D.I.C.E. Awards. He also won two Game Awards, three Game Developers Choice Awards, and four Writers Guild of America Awards.

Early Life and Education

Neil Druckmann was born in Israel on December 5, 1978. He grew up in a place called Beit Aryeh. His older brother, Emanuel, showed him comic books, video games, and movies. These helped Druckmann learn English. He especially loved video games from companies like Sierra Entertainment and LucasArts. He became very interested in telling stories and even wrote his own comic books.

In 1989, his family moved to the United States. He went to middle school and high school in Miami, Florida. He later studied criminology. He thought this would help him write novels. His brother once snuck him into the Electronic Entertainment Expo, a big video game event.

Druckmann started developing a game called Pink-Bullet with friends. He wanted to be an animator, but his parents didn't allow it. After taking a programming class, he found he liked it more. In 2002, he started studying computer science. He finished his degree with high honors in 2003.

He then moved to Pittsburgh and went to Carnegie Mellon University (CMU). In 2003, he began studying for his master's degree in entertainment technology. There, he took a game design class that taught him important ideas he would use later. In 2004, while at CMU, Druckmann helped create a game for the Nintendo Entertainment System called Dikki Painguin in: TKO for the Third Reich.

Career in Gaming

Starting as an Intern and Programmer

One of Druckmann's professors helped him go to the Game Developers Conference (GDC) in 2003. There, he met Jason Rubin, a co-founder of Naughty Dog. Druckmann kept in touch with Rubin and later got an internship offer from Naughty Dog.

Around May 2004, Druckmann joined Naughty Dog as a programming intern. He worked on Jak 3 (2004), helping with programming and design tasks. After his internship ended in August, he was offered a full-time job. He even got credit for his master's degree through his work at Naughty Dog. He finished his degree in 2005. He programmed the menu screens for Jak X: Combat Racing (2005), which he found very challenging.

Becoming a Designer and Writer

Druckmann (left) accepting the Game Developers Choice Award for Best Writing with Josh Scherr (center) and Amy Hennig (right).

Druckmann kept asking to join the design team at Naughty Dog. His boss, Evan Wells, eventually agreed to look at his design work. Druckmann worked on level designs in his free time. Wells saw that Druckmann was good at design. After Jak X, Wells gave him a design job for Jak and Daxter: The Lost Frontier.

A few months later, Druckmann moved to work on Uncharted: Drake's Fortune (2007). He worked closely with Amy Hennig on the story. Then, he became a lead game designer for Uncharted 2: Among Thieves (2009). He became even more involved in writing the game's story.

In 2009, Druckmann wrote and directed the motion comic Uncharted: Eye of Indra. This comic told a story that happened before the first Uncharted game. His first graphic novel, A Second Chance at Sarah, came out in 2010. It was about his idea of going back in time to meet his wife when she was younger. Critics liked the art and Druckmann's writing.

Leading Creative Projects

After Uncharted 2, Naughty Dog split into two teams. Druckmann and Bruce Straley were chosen to lead a new game project. They decided to create a brand new game called The Last of Us.

Druckmann (right) with game director Bruce Straley (left) at PAX Prime 2014. They worked closely on The Last of Us and Uncharted 4: A Thief's End.

Druckmann used an idea he had in college for The Last of Us. He wanted to mix the gameplay of Ico (2001) with a zombie apocalypse story. The main character, a police officer, would protect a young girl. But because of his heart problem, players would often control the girl. He changed the police officer to Joel and the girl to Ellie. Druckmann wanted the story to feel very real, different from Naughty Dog's lighter games. He even took acting classes to better talk to the actors.

The Last of Us came out on June 14, 2013. People loved Druckmann's work on the story. He won many awards for it. The game is often called one of the best-written video games ever.

Druckmann then worked on The Last of Us: Left Behind, a story that happened before the main game. It focused on Ellie's friendship with Riley and was highly praised. He won more awards for Left Behind. People especially liked a scene with a kiss between two female characters, calling it a big moment for video games. He also co-wrote a comic book series called The Last of Us: American Dreams.

After Amy Hennig left Naughty Dog, Druckmann and Straley started working on Uncharted 4: A Thief's End (2016). Druckmann co-wrote the story with Josh Scherr. He enjoyed working with another writer, as he had written The Last of Us mostly by himself. The game came out on May 10, 2016, and its story was highly praised. It won awards for Best Narrative. Uncharted 4 is also seen as one of the best-written games. Druckmann also helped with the story for Uncharted: The Lost Legacy (2017).

In 2014, Sony announced that Druckmann was writing a movie based on The Last of Us. However, the movie faced many delays. In 2018, Druckmann said he didn't want the movie to be made anymore.

Leading the Studio

Druckmann (center) on the final day of motion capture production of The Last of Us Part II with Troy Baker (left) and Ashley Johnson (right)

In March 2018, Druckmann became a vice president at Naughty Dog. He was the creative director for The Last of Us Part II (2020). He co-wrote this game with Halley Gross. The game's ideas about revenge were inspired by Druckmann's own experiences growing up. He wanted players to feel a desire for revenge, then realize what their actions truly meant.

The Last of Us Part II was released on June 19, 2020. Its story caused some strong reactions. Some critics loved the writing, while others found it slow. Druckmann faced some negative reactions online because of the story. Naughty Dog spoke out against this. The Last of Us Part II has won more Game of the Year awards than any other game. Druckmann and Gross won many awards for their work on the game.

On December 4, 2020, Druckmann became co-president of Naughty Dog. He was also named one of the most important business leaders in media. Druckmann was an executive producer for the Uncharted movie (2022).

He is also a writer and executive producer for The Last of Us TV show for HBO. Druckmann directed the second episode of the show. He said making the show helped him with directing games. The TV series started in January 2023 and got great reviews. Many people called it the best video game adaptation ever. Critics praised Druckmann's directing on the second episode.

Druckmann created the television adaptation of The Last of Us with Craig Mazin (right).

In July 2023, Druckmann became the studio head and head of creative at Naughty Dog. He received an award called the Andrew Yoon Legend Award in January 2024.

In May 2024, Sony published an interview with Druckmann. Some of his quotes were criticized. For example, he said his next game "could redefine mainstream perceptions of gaming." He later said this quote was not exactly what he meant. Sony later removed the interview because of errors.

For the second season of The Last of Us TV show, Druckmann is co-writing the last two episodes. He also directed the sixth episode. In June 2022, Druckmann said he was working on a new game. He later said he was very excited about it. The game, Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet, was announced in December 2024. It has been in development since 2020.

How He Writes Stories

Druckmann's main idea for writing is "simple story, complex characters." He doesn't like video games with confusing explanations. Instead, he enjoys writing about complicated relationships between characters. When he writes a scene, he tries to think from every character's point of view. He tries to write honestly and avoid common character types.

He also writes simply, always asking, "What is this scene really about? What's the least we have to say or do to show that?"

Before writing The Last of Us and Uncharted 4, Druckmann and Straley made full outlines of the stories. They started with the middle of the story, as it's the most important part. Then they worked on the ending and how characters would change. A common theme in Druckmann's stories is characters wanting to change their past.

What Inspires Him

Druckmann says game writer Sam Lake is a big inspiration. Some of his favorite video games are Monkey Island 2: LeChuck's Revenge (1991), Ico, Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty (2001), and Resident Evil 4 (2005). He also gets ideas from comics that focus on characters, like Preacher and Y: The Last Man.

When writing The Last of Us, Druckmann was inspired by movies like Unforgiven (1992), No Country for Old Men (2007), and Gravity (2013).

His Beliefs

Druckmann often speaks up for gender equality in video games. He says Anita Sarkeesian has influenced him. He noticed he often wrote about "white, straight, Christian male" characters. This made him want to create more diverse characters. While making Uncharted 4, he was encouraged to include more female characters.

Early tests of The Last of Us showed some negative reactions to Ellie, the main female character. Druckmann was surprised by some of the strong opinions about gender roles in the game. He believes it's a "misconception" that female main characters hurt game sales. The success of The Last of Us proves this.

Personal Life

Druckmann lives in Santa Monica, California, with his children. He started dating his wife, Maya, when he was in college. He became a father while making The Last of Us. He said his daughter was a "huge inspiration" for the game. He realized he would "do anything" for her. His son was born around 2014.

In his free time, Druckmann plays the guitar. He also plays video games like Animal Crossing and Pokémon with his children.

Druckmann speaks Hebrew and English. He is an American citizen and has voted in US elections. He has also donated to emergency response teams in both Israel and Palestine.

Works

Video Games

Other game credits

• 2017 – What Remains of Edith Finch (playtester)
• 2022 – Return to Monkey Island (voice cameo)

Film and Television

Appearances

• 2013 – Grounded: Making The Last of Us (documentary)
• 2017 – Face Off (TV show episode)
• 2024 – Grounded: Making The Last of Us Part II (documentary)

Books and Comics

Awards and Recognitions

See also

In Spanish: Neil Druckmann para niños