Times of change are blowing at Naughty Dog, the star studio of PlayStation, as an era is coming to an end with the departure of one of the talents who was there when the ascent began in the 90s and accompanied the process until reaching the top.
Evan Wells is leaving Naughty Dog after a 25-year career
In a statement, Evan Wells, co-president of Naughty Dog, announced that he will be stepping down from his position and leaving the studio after 25 years of being a developer and executive. The reason? According to the post, it is simply his retirement after dedicating over two decades to building one of the most important studios in the history of video games and one of the pillars of PlayStation.
After 25 incredible years, Naughty Dog Co-President Evan Wells announces he will be retiring later this year. We're so grateful for his talents, guidance, and leadership in helping to shape our studio.
— Naughty Dog (@Naughty_Dog) July 11, 2023
Read more from Evan here: https://t.co/K2kev1KkQi pic.twitter.com/7GrK5XClWp
The message includes an emotional part in which Evan Wells reminisces about the most important moments he experienced at Naughty Dog and how they were connected to his personal life: "I've been professionally making games for over 30 years, and Naughty Dog has been my home for over half my life! I've seen this studio go from a dozen people to the team of over 400 that we have now. Every important milestone in my life can be related back to a Naughty Dog project. I met my wife during Crash Team Racing, took our honeymoon after we shipped Jak 2, had our first child during E3 week when we announced Uncharted: Drake's Fortune, and our second child was born right in the middle of development on The Last of Us."
Evan Wells began his career in gaming as a tester and level designer for ToeJam & Earl in Panic on Funkotron in 1993. He then worked on the Gex series as a programmer and designer in 1995 and 1998. In that same year, he joined Naughty Dog for the development of Crash Bandicoot: Warped and served as a designer on the studio's games until he was appointed co-president in 2004.
Following the announcement, Neil Druckmann took the opportunity to inform about the ongoing changes in the organization and leadership of Naughty Dog, although it appears that he will be the ultimate head of the PlayStation studio for the time being.
Naughty Dog Co-President Neil Druckmann offers an update on how the Studio Leadership Team will change as Evan Wells retires: https://t.co/l8NHjAgpXZ pic.twitter.com/OxsHSQWgAz
— Naughty Dog (@Naughty_Dog) July 11, 2023
Stay tuned here at LEVEL UP.
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