Evan Wells Explained

Occupation:Game director, artist
Years Active:1993–2023
Employer:Naughty Dog
Co-president
Nationality:American
Alma Mater:Stanford University

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 . 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.

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 (1998) as lead designer. Wells then moved to Naughty Dog, where he worked on (1998), Crash Team Racing (1999),[2] (2001), Jak II (2003), Jak 3 (2004) and (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), and on the television adaptation of The Last of Us with HBO. In July 2023, Wells announced he would retire by the end of the year.[7]

Works

Video games

Year Game title Role
1993 ToeJam & Earl in Panic on Funkotron Lead tester, level design
1995 Gex Programmer
1998 Lead designer
1998 Lead designer
1999 Crash Team Racing Lead designer
2001 Lead designer
2003 Jak II Lead designer
2004 Jak 3 Lead designer
2005 Co-president
2007 Co-president
2009 Co-president
2011 Co-president
2013 The Last of Us Co-president
2014 Co-president
2016 Co-president
2017 President
2020 The Last of Us Part II President

Film and television

Year Title Notes
2013 Grounded: Making The Last of Us Documentary[8]
2015 Conversations with Creators Web series; Episode 2[9]
2022 Uncharted Film; executive producer[10]
2023 The Last of Us Television series; executive producer[11]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Naughty Dog 30th Anniversary Contest . welovefine . Mighty Fine . July 27, 2017 . https://web.archive.org/web/20170821125049/https://community.welovefine.com/m/contests/detail/naughty-dog-s-30th-anniversary-design-contest . August 21, 2017 . live .
  2. Web site: How Crash Team Racing Challenged Mario Kart and Made Naughty Dog What It is Today. 7 February 2019.
  3. News: Naughty Dog's Evan Wells . . 16 November 2007 . Gamer Network . July 27, 2017 . https://web.archive.org/web/20170821125728/http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/naughty-dogs-evan-wells-live-q-and-a . August 21, 2017 . live .
  4. Web site: Naughty Dog Co-President Christophe Balestra Announces Departure From Studio . Dornbush . Jonathon . . . March 8, 2017 . March 9, 2017 . https://web.archive.org/web/20170309030418/http://www.ign.com/articles/2017/03/08/naughty-dog-co-president-christophe-balestra-announces-departure-from-studio . March 9, 2017 . live .
  5. Web site: An Update from Studio President Evan Wells . Wells . Evan . . . March 9, 2018 . March 10, 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180310135541/https://www.naughtydog.com/blog/studio_update_neil_druckmann_the_last_of_us_part_ii . March 10, 2018 . live .
  6. Web site: Neil Druckmann named co-president of Naughty Dog . Valentine . Rebekah . . . December 4, 2020 . December 5, 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20201205023929/https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2020-12-04-neil-druckmann-named-co-president-of-naughty-dog . December 5, 2020 . live .
  7. Web site: Naughty Dog Co-President Evan Wells Announces His Retirement . Croft . Liam . . . July 11, 2023 . July 12, 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230711231520/https://www.pushsquare.com/news/2023/07/naughty-dog-co-president-evan-wells-announces-his-retirement . July 11, 2023 . live .
  8. Grounded: Making The Last of Us . Naughty Dog and Area 5 . . 2013 . July 27, 2017 . https://web.archive.org/web/20141110225627/http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R0l7LzC_h8I . November 10, 2014 . live .
  9. Web site: Conversations with Creators with Wil Wheaton Premieres July 7th . Wheaton . Wil . Wil Wheaton . . . June 22, 2015 . July 27, 2017 . https://web.archive.org/web/20150717111350/http://blog.us.playstation.com/2015/06/22/conversations-with-creators/ . July 17, 2015 . live .
  10. Web site: 'Uncharted' Trailer: Tom Holland Is Video Game Adventurer Nathan Drake . Complex . Valerie . . . October 21, 2021 . October 23, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20211021145223/https://deadline.com/video/uncharted-trailer-tom-holland-is-video-game-adventurer-nathan-drake-sony/ . October 21, 2021 . live .
  11. Web site: 'The Last of Us' Series in Development at HBO From 'Chernobyl' Creator . Joe . Otterson . March 5, 2020 . March 5, 2020 . .