Our last creator Neil Druckmann said he never planned a sequel: “It takes confidence that I don't have”

Neil Druckmann and Sony Santa Monica Barlog sat in the audience earlier this week at the Dice Summit in Las Vegas, Nevada. In front of me, I talked about a very personal topic: doubt.

Both themes are obviously very close to both of them, with the drama coming back and forth about an hour, from doubts about themselves as creators to knowing that an idea is “right.” Both also answered some pre-proposed audience questions, including the sequel Barlog read to Druckmann: “How do you and your team handle character development in multiple games?

However, Druckmann's answer was surprising to those who made many sequels at the time: He didn't think about multiple games.

“It's a very simple question for me because I've never thought about multiple games because the games I have in front of us are the same.” “I think if you're in the first game,” he replied. Start thinking about sequels when working in the process, then you're working on it. So when I make our last 2, yes, of course. If we have the chance to do another idea, an idea will pop up in your mind occasionally. But I just treat it, like, “What if I never did another one? “…I won't save some ideas for the future. If there's a cool idea, I'll try to get it in here.”

Ten years of profit

Druckmann went on to explain that this is how he handled everything, except maybe our last TV show, because he already knew it would have multiple seasons. So when the sequel appears, Druckmann says he looks back at what he has done and asks himself what elements are not yet resolved and where the characters can go. “If I think the answer is, they can’t go anywhere and then I go, ‘I think we’ll kill them.’

“I'm kidding, but we're just finding the next game. When we get into the unknown 1, we don't know we're going to do the unknown 2's train sequence, or where Nathan Drake is. When we don't know 2, we figure it out. Finally, when we do the unknown 3 jobs, we go back and say, “How do we not repeat ourselves? Where else can this character be? Go? We must come up with a new answer. If we don’t have new answers, then we should ask ourselves, is this the right role? Is this the right game for us? Or is it time to find something new? ”

Balege replied that he didn't work that way at all. Balog said he had “there were so many things that were trying to connect and plan with all of these works,” especially when he was able to connect what he was working on with what he planned a decade ago. hour.

“It’s so magical, but absolutely, absolutely the most unhealthy thing ever, because trying to fold and connect these pieces is very stressful,” Balog continued. “Because it’s given or taken five years, there are hundreds of people involved and then often move in a whole new group of people on the next project. That’s a bunch of different perspectives, and it’s like and don’t like you set something up early on that negatively affects you. . They'll say, 'Let's talk about this because that's stupid. I don't know if I want to do that. '”

“I think it takes some confidence for me, I just don’t,” Druckman replied later. “Like this, it will be so successful, I know where to go next. I think, I just want to focus on the next five days, let alone ten years.”

Reasons for waking up

Fireside chat covers many topics, and Druckmann and Barlog skeptically discuss their own experiences, as well as their respective creative processes to determine when to be “right”. Later in the speech, they hint at their feelings about their profession. Druckmann talks about how he doesn't want to shoot TV or movies permanently, sharing anecdotes about his love for games:

“Since we talked about TV, I did some guidance on Pedro Pascal one time. I think he was frustrated with my direction, but he joked. He was like, “Do you like art?” ? “I said on defense, “Yes, do you like art?” “He didn't miss any rhythm,” he said, “This is the reason for waking up in the morning. That's why I live and breathe. For me, that's why we do it.

” …Sometimes, I have a panic attack. The stress is too high, but you have to do it because you love it so much. I love the game very much. I love the story we tell in the game very much. This is what I woke up in the morning Why. That's why we do things, despite all the negatives that come with it, sometimes death threats, all the negatives and all these things, you just ignore these things and say, “Yes, But I have to make games with the most talented people. How lucky are we? ''

Druckmann then raised a question about Barlog, pointing to Barlog's long career in light of his recently retired colleague Ted Price. “When is it enough? …When is it enough to be forced? When did you prove yourself?”

Barlog gives a long answer Real Real:

“Enough? The short answer is, no, that's not enough. It's the voice in your mind that drives you more, more, more, more… You struggle, struggle, work, work. You don't feel like you don't feel like you're struggling. , and you are not heard. Or what you do will not resonate. Then you arrive where you have been looking at the mountain, you have been dreaming, you have been longing for it. Finally, you arrive The top of this mountain. At the same time, it's like the most amazing and terrible thing.

“Because when you get to the top, this obsessive demon won’t shut up, letting you appreciate your persistence moments, the smell of the air, the sound of this successful silent voice, you’ve struggled, you’ve already worked hard. So many people come together to use this collective creative brain space to generate something that is just an idea or concept. Just enjoy and revel in seeing you accomplish this and you are on the top of the mountain. No. The demon looks just Left, “There is another mountain that is much higher. “Well, what's next? You don't even take the time often. And I don't want to believe it was intentional. It's weird, I think silence, not your personal makeup silence. You do this because you can't stop. You move yourself forward and hurt everyone else, giving you advice on stopping and pace, and you won't.”

Druckmann responds to this point, but softer, ending with an anecdote about Jason Rubin of Naughty Dogs. After Druckmann left the company, he remembers Rubin telling him that he left the space that would rise for everyone else. “I thought about these opportunities. Ultimately, when I do this, it will create a lot of opportunities for people. So for me, it's like I'm slowly rising. I'm less involved in my daily work, like me This project ongoing…eventually I think I will be able to eliminate myself. I don't know how long it will take, but I think about it. I think about the opportunities I will create to put people under this pressure next step, take on them Ideas and be vulnerable and do all of these things.”

Barlog quipped, concluding: “It's very convincing. I'm going to retire.”

Rebekah Valentine is a senior journalist at IGN. You can find her post on bluesky @duckvalentine.bsky.social. Is there a story tip? Send it to [email protected].