Image courtesy of Naughty Dog
When word broke earlier this week that Amy Hennig, the creative force behind Naughty Dog’s award-winning Uncharted francise, would be leaving the studio she’d worked at for over ten years, many people were saddened. What puzzled even more of us was the rumors that she had been ‘forced out’ of her role and her job, specifically by the directorial team behind The Last of Us. While Hennig herself has not commented on the circumstances of her exit, the co-presidents of Naughty Dog, and Sony’s VP of Software Product Development, have spoken up in hopes of quelling the rampant speculation.
On the developer’s website, Naughty Dog’s Evan Wells and Christophe Ballestra issued a joint statement regarding what they called “the regrettable news” of Amy Hennig’s separation. “She will be missed and, as we stated before, we appreciate the significant contributions that she has made to Naughty Dog and the industry in general,” their statement reads, wishing her the best going forward. The co-presidents also took the time to flatly deny any involvement of The Last of Us director Bruce Straley and writer and creative director Neil Druckmann:
However, we feel it necessary to clear up a very important point that was unprofessionally misreported when the story broke. Bruce Straley and Neil Druckmann were NOT involved in what transpired. It was very upsetting to us that dozens of stories were run, linking back to the same hurtful accusations in the original report.
Image courtesy of BAFTA
Wells and Ballestra explained that as co-presidents, they take responsibility for all studio affairs, and that while they wouldn’t normally comment on the exit of any employee, “because the personal reputation of two of our employees is being damaged we needed to set the record straight.” They concluded with a curt exclamation that “[t]here is nothing left to be said on this subject” and they planned to get back to the business of making games.
Meanwhile, in a conversation with IGN, who initially broke reports of the acrimonious split between Hennig and Naughty Dog, Scott Rohde addressed the issue from standpoint of his position as the head of Software Product Development for Worldwide Studios America–which includes Naughty Dog, along with a number of other internal studios. Rohde said, “I’m always going to have the deepest admiration for her. But things change, and sometimes change involves very high profile individuals. That’s all that’s happened here. There’s nothing else. There’s no more to dig at.” When asked about reports that she’d be fired, Rohde stated that he is “never going to agree with the term ‘pushed out’” and reiterated that “people change, business changes, things change.”
It’s likely this is the last that the public will hear on the record regarding Hennig and Naughty Dog’s split, but should further information develop, SonyRumors will continue to update as the need arises.
Discuss:
What do you think of the statement by Naughty Dog’s co-presidents? Let us know in the comments.
[Via Naughty Dog][Via IGN]