Evan Wells

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Evan Wells
Evan Wells, GDCA 2010.jpg
Wells at the Game Developers Choice Awards in 2010
Nationality American
Alma mater Stanford University
Occupations
  • Game director
  • artist
Years active1993–2023
Employer Naughty Dog
TitleCo-president

Evan Wells is an American video game designer and programmer and former president of Naughty Dog. Wells's first video game was at Sega, where he worked on ToeJam & Earl in Panic on Funkotron , before moving to Crystal Dynamics in 1995 to work on Gex and Gex: Enter the Gecko . He was employed at Naughty Dog in 1998, working on several Crash Bandicoot and Jak and Daxter titles before becoming co-president of the company alongside Stephen White in 2005; White was replaced the following year by Christophe Balestra, who retired in 2017. The two oversaw the release of the Uncharted series, and The Last of Us . Wells remained the sole president, overseeing the release of The Last of Us Part II , until Neil Druckmann's promotion to co-president in 2020. Wells announced his retirement in 2023.

Contents

Career

Evan Wells graduated from Stanford University in 1995 with a computer science degree. [1] He worked at Sega in 1993, working on ToeJam & Earl in Panic on Funkotron (1993) as a lead tester, before working at Crystal Dynamics from 1994 to 1998, working on Gex (1995) as a programmer, and Gex: Enter the Gecko (1998) as lead designer. Wells then moved to Naughty Dog, where he worked on Crash Bandicoot: Warped (1998), Crash Team Racing (1999), [2] Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy (2001), Jak II (2003), Jak 3 (2004) and Jak X: Combat Racing (2005). [3] Following the departure of founders Jason Rubin and Andy Gavin in 2004, Wells became co-president of Naughty Dog alongside Stephen White; White was replaced by Christophe Balestra after a year. Wells continued to work as co-president during the release of the Uncharted titles (2007–17), as well as The Last of Us (2013). Balestra retired from the company in April 2017; Wells became the sole president. [4] Neil Druckmann was promoted to vice president in March 2018, [5] and to co-president alongside Wells in December 2020. [6] Wells was an executive producer on the film Uncharted (2022), [7] and on the television adaptation of The Last of Us with HBO. [8] In July 2023, Wells announced he would retire by the end of the year. [9]

Works

Video games

YearGame titleRole
1993 ToeJam & Earl in Panic on Funkotron Lead tester, level design [3]
1995 Gex Programmer [3]
1998 Gex: Enter the Gecko Lead designer [3]
1998 Crash Bandicoot: Warped Lead designer [3]
1999 Crash Team Racing Lead designer
2001 Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy Lead designer
2003 Jak II Lead designer
2004 Jak 3 Lead designer
2005 Jak X: Combat Racing Co-president
2007 Uncharted: Drake's Fortune Co-president
2009 Uncharted 2: Among Thieves Co-president
2011 Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception Co-president
2013 The Last of Us Co-president
2014 The Last of Us: Left Behind Co-president
2016 Uncharted 4: A Thief's End Co-president
2017 Uncharted: The Lost Legacy President
2020 The Last of Us Part II President

Film and television

YearTitleNotes
2013Grounded: Making The Last of UsDocumentary [10]
2015Conversations with CreatorsWeb series; Episode 2 [11]
2022 Uncharted Film; executive producer [7]
2023–present The Last of Us Television series; executive producer [8]

References

  1. ↑ "Naughty Dog 30th Anniversary Contest". welovefine. Mighty Fine. Archived from the original on August 21, 2017. Retrieved July 27, 2017.
  2. ↑ "How Crash Team Racing Challenged Mario Kart and Made Naughty Dog What It is Today". February 7, 2019.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 "Naughty Dog's Evan Wells". Eurogamer . Gamer Network. November 16, 2007. Archived from the original on August 21, 2017. Retrieved July 27, 2017.
  4. ↑ Dornbush, Jonathon (March 8, 2017). "Naughty Dog Co-President Christophe Balestra Announces Departure From Studio". IGN . Ziff Davis. Archived from the original on March 9, 2017. Retrieved March 9, 2017.
  5. ↑ Wells, Evan (March 9, 2018). "An Update from Studio President Evan Wells". Naughty Dog . Sony Interactive Entertainment. Archived from the original on March 10, 2018. Retrieved March 10, 2018.
  6. ↑ Valentine, Rebekah (December 4, 2020). "Neil Druckmann named co-president of Naughty Dog". Gamesindustry.biz . Gamer Network. Archived from the original on December 5, 2020. Retrieved December 5, 2020.
  7. 1 2 Complex, Valerie (October 21, 2021). "'Uncharted' Trailer: Tom Holland Is Video Game Adventurer Nathan Drake". Deadline Hollywood . Penske Media Corporation. Archived from the original on October 21, 2021. Retrieved October 23, 2021.
  8. 1 2 Otterson, Joe (March 5, 2020). "'The Last of Us' Series in Development at HBO From 'Chernobyl' Creator". Variety . Retrieved March 5, 2020.
  9. ↑ Croft, Liam (July 11, 2023). "Naughty Dog Co-President Evan Wells Announces His Retirement". Push Square . Hookshot Media. Archived from the original on July 11, 2023. Retrieved July 12, 2023.
  10. ↑ Naughty Dog and Area 5 (2013). Grounded: Making The Last of Us. Sony Computer Entertainment. Archived from the original on November 10, 2014. Retrieved July 27, 2017.
  11. ↑ Wheaton, Wil (June 22, 2015). "Conversations with Creators with Wil Wheaton Premieres July 7th". PlayStation Blog . Sony Computer Entertainment. Archived from the original on July 17, 2015. Retrieved July 27, 2017.
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