After Neil Druckmann called out Sony for inaccuracies in a published interview, the company has now apologized to the co-creator of The Last Of Us.
While you’d expect developer interviews published on official company platforms to be rigorously vetted to iron out any negative wrinkles, Sony has gotten itself into trouble by doing the exact opposite.
Last week, an interview with Neil Druckmann, co-creator of The Last Of Us, was published on Sony’s Group Portal website, where he talked about the impact of AI on game development. He also teased Naughty Dog’s next game, claiming in the original version of the interview that it could “redefine the mainstream perception of gaming.”
After the interview was published, Druckmann took to Twitter to emphasize that he did not say those words at all. “In editing my lengthy responses in my recent interview with Sony, some of my words, context and intent were unfortunately lost,” he wrote.
Now, a few days later, Sony has scrubbed the interview entirely from its website and apologized to Druckmann after discovering “several significant errors.”
“Upon revisiting our recent interview with Naughty Dog’s Neil Druckmann, we found several significant errors and inaccuracies that do not represent his perspective and values (including topics such as animation, writing, technology, AI, and future projects).” there is a message on the website.
‘We apologize to Neil for any misinterpretation of his words and for any negative impact this interview may have had on him and his team. In consultation with Naughty Dog and Sony Interactive Entertainment, we have removed the interview.”
What’s particularly bizarre is that Druckmann initially only highlighted inaccuracies in his edited response to a question about future projects, but this apology implies that the entire article was riddled with problems on every topic.
Publishers are usually very careful to ensure that journalists transcribe interviews exactly, but as this appears to have been treated as a marketing exercise aimed mainly at investors, Sony appears to have taken a very loose approach to editing the comments of Druckmann.
The controversy comes after Naughty Dog canceled an online multiplayer spin-off of The Last Of Us in December, despite Sony’s push for more live service games, which could indicate a difficult relationship behind the scenes.
In his unedited response about Naughty Dog’s next game, which has yet to be announced, Druckmann teased that this “might be the most excited I’ve been for a project yet.”
He added: “Not only am I excited about this gaming we’re making – and it’s something very new for us – but I’m also excited to see how the world responds to it.
“Because of The Last Of Us and the success of the show, people, even outside the gaming world, are watching us to see what we’re going to release next. I’m very curious to see what the reaction to this will be – and I’ve already said too much about it. I’ll stop there.’
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