Nearly a month on from its release and The Last of Us Part 2 continues to be all anyone is talking about. The game launched to hugely positive reviews from critics but received mixed reactions from players. Creative director of The Last of Us 2, Neil Druckmann, has been in the middle of a lot of criticisms made about the game but still made sure to send a positive message to his team at Naughty Dog after launch.

Despite scoring a 95 on Metacritic from critic reviews, The Last Of Us 2 has been on the end of fan hate due to some of its controversial story decisions. Audience reaction has been likened to the schism between fans around Star Wars: The Last Jedi, with some either loving or hating the game and very little room in between. Unfortunately, actress Laura Bailey and Druckmann have revealed they were both sent death threats from fans, which led to Druckmann taking a strong stance against online haters.

It takes an incredibly large team to work on a AAA game like The Last of Us 2, and the team at Naughty Dog has been working on the game for the better part of seven years. In an interview with Troy Baker, who plays Joel in the game, Druckmann revealed how he addressed his team following the game’s launch. After the positive critic reviews for The Last of Us 2 began flooding in, Druckmann had originally planned to send a personalized message to every member of the team, but he ended up sending a group email praising everyone’s work after realizing there were too many team members to thank individually.

Druckmann told the team he’d never been prouder of any game he’s worked on than The Last of Us 2 and wanted to recognize that it was a team effort from everyone at Naughty Dog, “it was something to the effect of, ‘review scores are cool, but seeing your guys’ pride is what I live for.’” Druckmann also wanted to call out the haters, of which he knew there would be many, “It’s great to hear people love the game and how much it resonates with them, but nothing comes close to hearing you, or Laura, or John, or any member of the team that has sent me an email since the game has come out to say this is the best game I’ve ever worked on. F**k the haters. Nothing makes me prouder that I’ve worked on in my life than this game.”

With a game like The Last of Us 2, which has such heavy fan investment, it was inevitable that the sequel would let some players down. But it has also received plenty of praise and is a huge Game of the Year contender. The work and effort from the Naughty Dog team that has gone into The Last of Us 2 is undeniable and it seems Druckmann wanted to emphasize that.

Druckmann and the team are now likely gearing up for the standalone The Last of Us 2 multiplayer expansion. Naughty Dog has also recently posted some new job positions which could point to a new IP in the works or a possible sequel to the Uncharted or The Last of Us franchises.

The Last of Us 2 is out now exclusively on the PS4.

Source: GameSpot