Naughty Dog says game directors were 'not involved' with Amy Hennig departure

Naughty Dog co-presidents Evan Walls and Christophe Balestra issued a statement today to address reports that The Last of Us game director Bruce Straley and creative director Neil Druckmann were involved in the recent departure of Uncharted series creative director, Amy Hennig.

The statement was issued in response to what the co-presidents described as "hurtful allegations" against Straley and Druckmann — both of whom worked on Naughty Dog's most-recent game, The Last of Us — which insinuated that they were the reason for Hennig's sudden departure from the studio.

"Earlier this week we had to confirm the regrettable news that Amy Hennig has left Naughty Dog," the statement reads. "She will be missed and as we stated before we appreciate the significant contributions that she has made to Naughty Dog and the industry in general. We wish her the best.

"However, we feel it necessary to clear up a very important point that was unprofessionally misreported when the story broke. Bruce Straley and Neil Druckmann were NOT involved in what transpired. It was very upsetting to us that dozens of stories were run, linking back to the same hurtful accusations in the original report. As co-presidents of Naughty Dog, we are responsible for all studio affairs.

"Normally, we wouldn't respond to rumors and speculation on matters that are internal to Naughty Dog, but because the personal reputation of two of our employees is being damaged we needed to set the record straight. There is nothing left to be said on this subject. Now we're going back to focusing on what we should — making games."

Hennig's departure was first reported earlier this week. She had worked with Naughty Dog for 10 years.