The report from 2014 said that trusted sources close to Naughty Dog stated Hennig was “forced out” by The Last of Us creative leads Neil Druckmann and Bruce Straley. A couple of days later, the report was refuted by Naughty Dog.
According to Mitch Dyer, who previously worked for IGN and wrote the article in question, states he was forced by the site’s editors at the time (Steve Butts and Tal Blevins) to include “forced gossip” in the report.
Whether or not there was any internal conflict at Naughty Dog isn’t confirmed, but this particular story was unsubstantiated.
Dyer even states that when the article was condemned by Sony, the editors “were silent” and never offered to go “to bat” when he came under fire for the report. The editors have since left IGN and have their own consulting firm.
Dyer is now a writer at EA’s Motive Montreal studio, which is working on Star Wars: Squadrons set for release on October 2.
Here’s the series of tweets from Dyer which bring the situation to light, and the response from Naughty Dog’s Neil Druckmann.
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When Sony justifiably condemned our story, Steve and Tal were SILENT. They never went to bat for me for a second.
— Mitch Dyer (@MitchyD) June 23, 2020
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— Mitch Dyer (@MitchyD) June 23, 2020
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— Neil Druckmann (@Neil_Druckmann) June 23, 2020
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Progress has been made as they rooted out the rot inside. Change is possible.
Never let these motherfuckers win.
— Mitch Dyer (@MitchyD) June 23, 2020
