The creative director for the newly-announced remake of The Last of Us: Part 1 had the same role on Marvel’s Avengers.
Shaun Escayg, who wrote and designed Avengers after leavingNaughty Dog, confirmed in April 2021 thathe had rejoined his former employer.
Now, following the game’s official reveal at this year’sSummer Game Fest, Escaygtook to Twitterto confirm that he was the remake’s creative director.
“So proud of our team on the incredible work done on The Last Of Us remake trailer shown at the #sgf2022,” Escayg wrote.
“This game was my introduction into making games and so holds a very special place in the feels for me. Honoured to be the Creative Director on this remake!”
Elsewhere,Matthew Gallant, who had worked on the original Last of Us as a game designer and its sequel as a lead systems designer,confirmed that he’s the game directoron the remake.
“Excited to share that I got to step into the role of game director on The Last of Us Part I, working alongside Shaun Escayg,” Gallant wrote.
“I was a fledgling designer when I worked on the original almost a decade ago, and it’s been a delight to revisit this beloved game.”
Escayg had been creative director at Naughty Dog between 2011 and 2018, where he had been a cinematic animator on the original Last of Us and game director forUncharted: The Lost Legacy, before leaving to joinCrystal Dynamicsand work on Avengers.
He then left Crystal Dynamics in April 2021, some eight months after the release of Avengers, to return to Naughty Dog and work on theLast of Us remake.
Welcome back@ShaunEscayg!Excited have you back at the studio and looking forward to doing awesome stuff together.https://t.co/E23pQ00XjS
Marvel’s Avengers’ performance suffered partly due totechnical problems present at launch. In addition, a lack of post-launch content, includingdelays to planned expansions and next-gen versionsof the game,contributed to a dwindling player count.
Following Escayg’s departure, the game continued to suffer from major issues. In November,Square Enixand Crystal Dynamicsremoved paid XP boosts from the gamefollowing a backlash from fans over their introduction.
