Neil Druckmann | |
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.png) Druckmann in December 2022 | |
| Born | December 5, 1978 Tel Aviv, Israel |
| Alma mater | Carnegie Mellon University |
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| Years active | 2004–present |
| Employer | Naughty Dog |
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Neil Druckmann (Hebrew: ניל דרוקמן; born December 5, 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, and is best known for his work on the game franchises Uncharted and The Last of Us, having co-created the latter.
Druckmann's first video game work came as an intern at Naughty Dog. In 2004, he became a programmer on Jak 3 (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 (2013) as writer and creative director, roles he continued for The Last of Us: Left Behind (2014) and Uncharted 4: A Thief's End (2016), co-writing the latter with Scherr. All three games were directed by Bruce Straley, with whom Druckmann developed a close working relationship. Druckmann and Craig Mazin are the creators, writers, and executive producers for the television adaptation of The Last of Us, for which Druckmann directed the second episode.
Druckmann was promoted to vice president of Naughty Dog in 2018 during the development of The Last of Us Part II (2020), for which he was creative director and co-writer with Halley Gross. He became co-president (with Evan Wells) in 2020, head of creative in 2023, and studio head in 2024. 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. Druckmann has received several awards, including three British Academy Games Awards, four D.I.C.E. Awards, two Game Awards, three Game Developers Choice Awards, and four Writers Guild of America Awards.