Evan Wells is leaving Naughty Dog to enter retirement at the end of 2023. Wells has been part of Naughty Dog for over 25 years and is retiring after building his career at the studio from a developer to co-president back in 2004.
Evan Wells has seen the launch of some of the biggest games at the studio over his career. He joined back in 1998 during the development of Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped. He has worked alongside some of the studio’s greatest franchises including Jak and Daxter, The Last of Us and Uncharted.
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Wells also served as the executive producer on the 2022 Uncharted movie as well as HBO’s recent The Last of Us TV show adaption.
According to a statement from Naughty Dog’s current president Neil Druckmann, Evan Wells had been contemplating retirement for a while now. Druckmann says that for the time being, he will head up the studio and take on the responsibilities of Head of Creative.
I know I speak for everyone at Naughty Dog when I say, from the bottom of our hearts, thank you, Evan; for your knowledge, your love of this studio and the industry, and for the great care you took to ensure that our studio was always moving in the right direction, your inspiring leadership will forever be part of our DNA.
Druckmann also detailed some of the leadership role shifts taking place at Naughty Dog as the studio moves forward. This includes promoting Alison Mori to Studio Manager and Head of Operations.
It was revealed earlier this year that Naughty Dog’s latest game, an online rendition of The Last of Us, was undergoing some troubled development. Reports claimed that Naughty Dog outsourced development to Bungie in order to help define the game’s live service mechanics.
The game, which has been missing in action for almost a year now, is expected to launch on PS5 and PC at a later date.
