According to a blog posted yesterday on the Naughty Dog website, Evan Wells is stepping down as co-president of Naughty Dog (creator of "The Last of Us" and "Uncharted" series) after 25 years.

"This is something I have been discussing with Naughty Dog's studio leadership team for over a year, and with Neil for longer. While this decision comes with overwhelming and conflicting emotions, I find myself satisfied with the time I have spent at this studio and what we have accomplished together over the past 25 years.

Wells reflected on his time spent with the development team and the great growth during his tenure: "I've been making games professionally for over 30 years, and Naughty Dog has been home for over half my life! I've watched this studio grow from 14 people (me!) back in the days of Crash 3 in 1998 to over 400 (developers) today"

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"There is no perfect time to step down, but I have incredible confidence that I can put this studio in the best possible hands."

Meanwhile, Neil Druckman spoke about how studio leadership will change to adjust to Wells' departure. As Evan noted, "Our good fortune has led to immense and steady growth. With such success and scale has come the need to reevaluate how to structure the studio leadership team to reflect the next chapter of Naughty Dog.

In a variety of moves, Druckmann announced that Anthony Newman, co-director of Last of Us Factions, a project that had been idling for some time, would become the studio's head of production and design. Whether his new role will have any impact on the game's uncertain future remains to be seen, but with Sony's current sense of annoyingly shifting PC release dates, we're not holding our breath either way.

Drachman concluded his announcement with a heartfelt thank you: "Your knowledge, your love for this studio and the industry, and your meticulous attention to keeping our studio moving in the right direction, your inspiring leadership will forever be part of our DNA! It will forever be a part of our DNA.

That inspirational leadership, however, comes with its own history of resistance to unionization and a difficult and tangled relationship with crunch culture. in a 2021 interview with Game Informer, Wells seemed unsympathetic to the idea of unionizing to deal with development pressures. The idea seems to have left him cold, and as reported in a 2020 Kotaku article, "The Last of Us Part 2" was produced at "a huge cost to people."

The article quotes a former developer as saying: "They try to take care of you by offering you food and encouraging you to go on breaks. This has resulted in disastrous cutbacks, with over 70% of the development staff for 2016's Uncharted 4 gone by the time this article was published.

Regardless, Evan Wells leaves behind a 25-year legacy at this studio that has produced some of the most influential titles in gaming.

I'm curious to see what Naughty Dog does next, even if I have to wait a couple of years to actually play it. Plus, if their track record continues, performance patches will continue for a few more months.