GameSpot may receive revenue from affiliate and advertising partnerships for sharing this content and from purchases through links.

The Last of Us 2: Bruce Straley Not Returning to Direct

"Bruce recently decided to take some much deserved time off after shipping two critically acclaimed games in the last few years."

By Eddie Makuch on December 4, 2016 at 10:26AM PST

27 Comments

Naughty Dog's Bruce Straley directed The Last of Us and Uncharted 4: A Thief's End alongside Neil Druckmann. However, Straley will not return to direct the recently confirmed sequel, The Last of Us: Part II. Sony confirmed in a statement to Kotaku that Straley is taking some "much deserved time off."

"Bruce recently decided to take some much deserved time off after shipping two critically acclaimed games in the last few years," the company said. "He's looking forward to returning to the studio soon and jumping back in on his next project."

Druckmann is directing Part II. He attended a panel for the game yesterday at PlayStation Experience, sharing some new insight into the project, which is only in the early stages of development.

According to Kotaku, Straley is on a yearlong sabbatical. He's a veteran Naughty Dog employee, having been with the company for almost 20 years. After Amy Hennig left Naughty Dog, Straley and Druckmann took over directing duties for Uncharted 4, which came out in May 2016 to critical acclaim.

For more on The Last of Us: Part II, check out the video and stories below.

Click To Unmute

Our Biggest Unanswered Questions From The Last of Us Part II

Please use a html5 video capable browser to watch videos.

This video has an invalid file format.

00:00:00

Sorry, but you can't access this content!

Please enter your date of birth to view this video

By clicking 'enter', you agree to GameSpot's
Terms of Use and Privacy Policy

News:

Got a news tip or want to contact us directly? Email news@gamespot.com

View Comments (27)

PlayStation 4

The Last of Us Part II

Join the conversation

There are 27 comments about this story

27 Comments RefreshSorted By

GameSpot has a zero tolerance policy when it comes to toxic conduct in comments. Any abusive, racist, sexist, threatening, bullying, vulgar, and otherwise objectionable behavior will result in moderation and/or account termination. Please keep your discussion civil.

Please Log In to post.

NTM23

1282

Forum Posts

Wiki Points

Followers

Reviews: 1

User Lists: 0

NTM23

Alright... Hopefully it plays well then.

Upvote • 7 years ago

Richardthe3rd

3844

Forum Posts

Wiki Points

Followers

Reviews: 3

User Lists: 0

Richardthe3rd

This time, please be sure to include more cutscenes.

I'd really love to know the character's feelings every time they pull the trigger, and a five minute introspective with each round fired will really give me the satisfying experience im looking for. It may bring the gameplay to a jarring, screeching halt, but **** gameplay in my games.

Also, If Naughty Dog needs to take more company retreats and switch to veganism while practicing Wiccan rituals inside a nudist compound, please also be sure to share this completely irrelevant "who gives a ****" information with us.

Upvote • 7 years ago

deactivated-5e83c14458072

2727

Forum Posts

Wiki Points

Followers

Reviews: 7

User Lists: 0

deactivated-5e83c14458072

@Richardthe3rd: You've obviously never played TLOU.

3 • 7 years ago

Moonco

3848

Forum Posts

Wiki Points

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

Edited By Moonco Moderator

@Richardthe3rd: You will love The Order 1886 lol

Upvote • 7 years ago

NTM23

1282

Forum Posts

Wiki Points

Followers

Reviews: 1

User Lists: 0

Edited By NTM23

@Richardthe3rd: Anyone that says there's too many cutscenes in The Last of Us, has never played The Last of Us. The Last of Us is a fifteen to twenty hour experience, and there's only about an hour and thirty minutes of cutscenes in the game. That's a lot of gameplay. Plus, I never felt like control was taken away from me in it.

5 • 7 years ago

ibonedyourmom

405

Forum Posts

Wiki Points

Followers

Reviews: 1

User Lists: 0

ibonedyourmom

Sure seem to be a lot of these "yearlong sabbaticals" in the video game industry. Dude worked on 2 critically acclaimed games in the last few years! Shit! Thats 1 more than 1. Poor guy must be exhausted.

Upvote • 7 years ago

LouiXIII

10052

Forum Posts

Wiki Points

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

LouiXIII

I hope this doesn't hurt the game

Upvote • 7 years ago

elkoldo

1832

Forum Posts

Wiki Points

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

Edited By elkoldo

Joel and Ellie's story didn't need a sequel. It saddens me to see this, an undesired sequel probably only to produce money, using the original game's fame.

Upvote • 7 years ago

phoenix1289

936

Forum Posts

Wiki Points

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

phoenix1289

@elkoldo: Or they actually have ideas on how to continue the story/world they created. How about giving the developers a chance to show what they have planned before condemning them over it.

6 • 7 years ago

elkoldo

1832

Forum Posts

Wiki Points

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

Edited By elkoldo

@phoenix1289: Fine. Looks like I'm one of the very few against the sequel. I'm gonna take my words back, but in case the game fails, remember that I was against it! :D

Upvote • 7 years ago

LouiXIII

10052

Forum Posts

Wiki Points

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

LouiXIII

@elkoldo: Neither did The Terminator but the sequel ended up being better than the original

6 • 7 years ago

deactivated-619938f48614f

353

Forum Posts

Wiki Points

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

deactivated-619938f48614f

@louixiii: Actually, The Terminator is better than Terminator 2, in my opinion. Don't get me wrong, Terminator 2 is an excellent film and a shining example of how sequels should be done, but I find the original to be better.

Upvote • 7 years ago

LouiXIII

10052

Forum Posts

Wiki Points

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

Edited By LouiXIII

@pdfanboy: To each is own. The original is a bit dry compared to the sequel in my opinion. 3 was meh. Genysis was good and I like the one with Christian Bale too. Too bad the last Terminator didn't do too well. I'd like to see how the story ends.

Upvote • 7 years ago

elkoldo

1832

Forum Posts

Wiki Points

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

elkoldo

@louixiii: Point taken. I eat my words for now.

Upvote • 7 years ago

LouiXIII

10052

Forum Posts

Wiki Points

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

LouiXIII

@elkoldo: Time will tell the tale...but this is Naughty Dog we're talking about. If there was ever a studio I'd put all of the chips on..it's Naughty Dog

Upvote • 7 years ago

deactivated-5845a9a3984cb

275

Forum Posts

Wiki Points

Followers

Reviews: 2

User Lists: 5

deactivated-5845a9a3984cb

i hope this wont affect level design . one of the strongest points of last of us was its level design

Upvote • 7 years ago

TashunkoSapa

484

Forum Posts

Wiki Points

Followers

Reviews: 5

User Lists: 0

TashunkoSapa

Meaning "forced out", similarly to Amy Hennig.

Upvote • 7 years ago

phoenix1289

936

Forum Posts

Wiki Points

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

Edited By phoenix1289

@TashunkoSapa: Not really. A sabbatical isn't forced out. He's basically on an extended vacation while still being employed by and planning to come back to the company. And considering he just worked on two highly renowned games back to back taking a break isn't that unreasonable especially in a creative field where burnout isn't uncommon.

7 • 7 years ago

BarcaAzul

3080

Forum Posts

Wiki Points

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

BarcaAzul

@TashunkoSapa:

Does smell a bit of Leslie Benzies / Amy Hemming., but maybe they just rewarded him with a sabbatical.

Upvote • 7 years ago