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Naughty Dog Creative Head Neil Druckmann to Receive NYVGCC Legend Award | Past winners include Phil Spencer, Hideo Kojima, and Reggie Fils-Aimé

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This coming January, Naughty Dog co-president and head of creative Neil Druckmann will be honored by the New York Video Game Critics Circle with the Andrew Yoon Legend Award at the 13th annual New York Game Awards.
The award is intended to recognize those "who have propelled the gaming world forward, celebrating their profound impact on an industry that continues to captivate and connect people worldwide." Past winners have included Xbox head Phil Spencer, Double Fine founder Tim Schafer, Death Stranding creator Hideo Kojima, former Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aimé, and others.

Druckmann's recognition comes after 20 years in the industry, all of which he has spent at Naughty Dog. He began as a programming intern in 2004 working on Jak 3, and went on to become known for his work on the Uncharted franchise and most recently creative leadership on The Last of Us, eventually becoming co-president of the studio.
“Neil Druckmann’s story is an inspirational one of self-determinism," said NYVGCC president Harold Goldberg. "He worked his way from an internship all the way up to being a co-president at Naughty Dog. His skill for creating titles that consistently redefine cinematic gameplay and human-centric storytelling not only deserves celebrating, but his efforts to create characters that represent diverse backgrounds and perspectives have enriched content in AAA games. His brilliant work has been lauded with multiple New York Game Awards over the year, and we are honored to recognize him as this year’s Andrew Yoon Legend Award winner.”
We last spoke to Druckmann upon the release of The Last of Us Part 2 about the game's development and its plot, characters, and themes. And earlier this year, Druckmann said that Naughty Dog has chosen what its next game will be, but stopped short of confirming whether or not we'll get a Last of Us Part 3 or not.

The New York Game Awards will take place on January 23, 2024 in Manhattan.
 

Ellery

Member
Congratulations. TLOU, Uncharted 4 and TLOU2 are the best Naughty Dog has ever been.

I can understand that not everyone is going to agree with the direction and feels alienated by the maturing of ND games, but I can only speak for myself and that is what I am looking for in (some) games.
 

ssringo

Member
What an interesting list of recipients. Bunch of western personalities and the lone Japanese one is Kojima. And Rockstar as a whole got one.
 
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rofif

Can’t Git Gud
No sure why now ?
UC4 is one of my fav games ever.
tlou2 is incredible. So yeah... he can get the award but now ?!
 

Majormaxxx

Member
Love him or hate him, he has earned a place there with his "self determinism" at any price - be it friends, franchises, fans or fun. I wish his modus operandi weren't so polarizing to half of the ND player base and destructive to my beloved Uncharted. Anyway, Druck has showed he possess leadership qualities. It's ironic.. But.. Sic parvis magna.
 
Neil has to go to Phil's office to pick it up. I'm hoping for a fist fight over the award.

An Uncharted style fight
 
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ADiTAR

ידע זה כוח
Why did Reggie win an award? He was just a mouth-piece, and an exec.

Also some other purple forum is prob already drafting a stern letter against this.
 
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TheInfamousKira

Reseterror Resettler
"Awarded to those involved in the video game industry - be it from business, development, marketing, etc. - that most exemplify the dedication to craft and the professional tenacity required to oust your dissidents in an incidental manner and release seventeen different versions of the same story and selling them simultaneously. In terms of overall impact, influence and legacy, this is one of the highest esteemed badges of honor in the industry," - me, probably
 

The Fuzz damn you!

Gold Member
Druckmann, like Spencer, has undeniably changed the gaming landscape. Games (well, many of them anyway) are moving in a different direction because of him. While you may not like that direction (or you may love it!), change is necessary in an industry where stagnation increases short-term profits by reducing development costs, but at the expense of the long-term health of the industry.

Surely, there must be some measure of respect offered to those who are willing to risk alienating their customer base by striking new ground.
 

simpatico

Member
Gears of War pioneered the cover based third person character shooter. Kojima pioneered making games movies. What did Druck do exactly? Where are the copycat games evidencing his influence?
 
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Gears of War pioneered the cover based third person character shooter. Kojima pioneered making games movies. What did Druck do exactly? Where are the copycat games evidencing his influence?

He made videogames become a serious medium for entertainment and not just a thing associated with kids, I'd say.

It's a pretty big achievement, TBH.
 

simpatico

Member
He made videogames become a serious medium for entertainment and not just a thing associated with kids, I'd say.

It's a pretty big achievement, TBH.
Depends who you’re trying to impress I suppose. Are people really looking at their shelves of alphabetically ordered video game spines and saying “yes! People will finally see how sophisticated my hobby truly is now!” all thanks to Druck?
 
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He didn't create Uncharted. Poor Amy Henig and Bruce Straley.
He co-wrote the first game, he co-wrote the second game as well, which he was also one of the main designers, directed and co-wrote Uncharted 4. He was also a a programmer on Jak 3 before all this, as well as Jak X Combat Racing. He didn't just create one of the biggest videogame franchises from the past 10 years with TLOU, which just happens to have the most successful TV show adaptation EVER for a videgame...he did more before all this.

If Phil Spencer can win this award for doing...whatever he is doing with Xbox, at least give Neil his flowers...the man clearly deserves it.
 
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