Neil Druckmann has dropped some hints regarding his next game, stating that the project will be structured more like a TV show.
According to Naughty Dog co-president Neil Druckmann (via), his next game is structured like a TV show more than anything else Naughty Dog had done so far. He said that he had taken a highly unusual step. He wasn’t writing the script alone or with a single partner this time around. Instead, he is in the process of assembling a writers’ room.
Regarding the prospects of the upcoming TV show based on his 2013 game The Last of Us, Druckmann believes that it will change things. He said that there are times when adaptations haven’t worked because the source material is not strong enough. At other times, according to him, they haven’t worked because the people making it don’t understand the source material. He mentioned that makers of an adaptation often find the need to fix things, and in trying to do so, they end up changing so much that it loses what made it special in the first place.
Previously, The Last of Us TV series showrunner Craig Mazin claimed that the 2013 game features the greatest story that has ever been told in all of gaming. He termed it as an “open-and-shut case”.
Mazin justified his statement by saying that the characters of The Last of Us were simply regular people. As per him, that, in and of itself, is remarkably rare in video games. He said that because the characters and story were both kept so grounded, it really made one “feel”. He added that he had never experienced anything like it before, and he’s been playing video games since 1977.
According to Mazin, games themselves are often brilliant to play, and not at all brilliant to watch when dramatized. He hinted at changes from the source material, saying that game director Neil Druckmann and and him always knew to ask why they’re only doing what’s in the show or what can be done to expand upon it.
