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'The Last of Us' director Bruce Straley leaves Naughty Dog
It's the end of an era for fans of Naughty Dog's games. Bruce Straley, best-known as the co-director (along with Neil Druckmann) of The Last of Us and Uncharted 4, is leaving the studio after 18 years. Straley hasn't explained the reasons behind the move (he doesn't have "anything to announce just yet,") but it's not for a lack of affection for the studio -- this is the "hardest decision" he ever made in his career.
Sony's turning The Last of Us into a movie with help from the game's creators
The Last of Us made its debut last year to critical (and commercial) acclaim from the gaming community, and it appears that the film industry's just as smitten with the story it tells. Deadline Hollywood reports that Sony Pictures' Screen Gems production company has decided to develop a "live-action adaptation" of the PS3 version of the game, and Neil Druckmann, who was The Last of Us' creative director, will be writing the screenplay. Evan Wells and Christophe Balestra, the co-presidents of Naughty Dog, the studio that created the game, and the game's director, Bruce Straley will also lend their talents to the project as "creative architects," whatever that means. Naturally, since the deal has just been done, we don't know when to expect The Last of Us to make its way to the silver screen, but at least we know it's coming... at some point.
Necessary violence: The creators of The Last of Us defend its reliance on combat
PlayStation 3 exclusive The Last of Us was the most successful game of 2013. That's not just sales (it sold extremely well, to the tune of 3.4 million in its first three weeks), but also critical reception (an average Metacritic score of 95/100 and it swept game of the year awards across the game industry in 2013). Last week, The Last of Us earned development studio Naughty Dog a whopping 10 wins at the annual DICE awards show in Las Vegas -- considered the Oscars of gaming. With Naughty Dog's past creating hit franchises like Crash Bandicoot, Jak & Daxter and Uncharted, The Last of Us leads Neil Druckmann and Bruce Straley aren't strangers to success (these guys led development of Uncharted 2, another extremely successful game). Their latest work is a tremendous departure.
