Sony apologises to Neil Druckmann for “significant errors and inaccuracies” in recent interview – WGB

Sony has publicly apologised to Naughty Dog’s Neil Druckmann for a heavily edited version of his comments that did not “represent his perspective and values”.

Last week Sony held a corporate strategy meeting where it discussed its future plans. including where it wants to be within the next decade. An interview with Neil Druckmann, co-president and head of creative at Naughty Dog, the team responsible for The Last of Us, was published at the same time.

In the interview, Druckmann appeared to discuss his studio’s next project, saying “I’m eager to see how this new game resonates, especially following the success of The Last of Us, as it could redefine mainstream perceptions of gaming.”

It reads like a fairly bold claim, albeit one that could be brushed aside as standard PR fluff.

However, Neil Druckmann himself took to social media shortly afterward to assert that the interview didn’t properly quote him.

“In editing my rambling answers in my recent interview with SONY, some of my words, context, and intent were unfortunately lost,” Druckmann wrote. “Well, here’s the full long rambling answer for the final question about our future game”.

Druckmann also posted the full transcript of what he said. In it, the quote Sony attributed to him in their original article never appears. Its very common for interviews to be edited down into something more manageable, but in that process the intent and original wording of the speaker must always be maintained. In the case of this Sony interview though, the answer provided is complete fabricated. Not only that, it doesn’t even capture what Druckmann was actually saying.

In response, Sony has now pulled the interview entirely and the page on which it was posted now displays an apology to Druckmann.

“In re-reviewing our recent interview with Naughty Dog’s Neil Druckmann, we have found several significant errors and inaccuracies that don’t represent his perspective and values (including topics such as animation, writing, technology, AI, and future projects). We apologize to Neil for misrepresenting his words and for any negative impact this interview might have caused him and his team. In coordination with Naughty Dog and SIE, we have removed the interview.” says Sony.

Hats off to Neil Druckmann for posting his exact words, and fair play to Sony for pulling it down and apologising.