After the release of The Last of Us 2, Naughty Dog faced a lot of criticism, with some fans going too far. According to the PlayStation boss Jim Ryan, toxicity should not affect the studio.
Last June, Sony Interactive Entertainment and Naughty Dog released the action-adventure The Last of Us 2 for the PlayStation 4. While critics were enthusiastic about the game, it was heavily criticized by the players. Fans of the first part didn’t like how the story of Ellie and Joel turned out.
Some fans exaggerated their displeasure and issued death threats to the developers and actors involved in The Last of Us 2. In a recent interview with GQ Magazine UK, Jim Ryan, President and CEO of Sony Interactive Entertainment, spoke about the criticism and whether it will have an impact on future developments.
I met Neil last year and congratulated him on his art and his storytelling. Neil’s a big boy, as am I, and I don’t think either of us would allow ourselves to be unduly bothered by that stuff.
Neil knows he makes great art. He knows that he’s successfully broached topics that have never been addressed in a mature manner in any video game ever before. I think that is an outstanding thing and I’m very proud that the PlayStation is the platform in which that happened. The rest of the toxicity you just take in your stride and just move on.
Furthermore, Ryan was motivated to continue to show a variety in the games. For this purpose, employees from different origins have been hired. Above all, they want to be very respectful of each other, although Ryan believes that this attitude has also reached the studios.
This can be seen in a larger number of female protagonists and the Afro-American main character Miles Morales, although the management does not force the developers to do so.
