Bruce Straley Wasn't Credited in HBO's The Last of Us, Calls for Unionization

This falls somewhere between sour grapes, being totally justified, and receiving an extra fiver every year in royalties. Unionization isn't a bad idea though.

Of course Neil and Craig are going to be given the writing credits for the first episode. They are the ones who wrote it. That's how it works when credit is given for writing each episode.

Bruce should have been given credit somewhere, but it wouldn't be for writing any of the episodes.

I don't think Sony or Naughty Dog is to blame here for this incident, but there's definitely a HUUUGE royalty problem in the gaming industry. Every developer (no, not you marketing people!, the real ones who actually worked on the game) in a project should benefit from any future royalty, including streaming revenues. And yes, studios should be compensated for streaming.

Too bad, you worked for naughty dog, not for yourself.. It's like the designer of the Aston Martin not getting credit for Casino Royale. It's not even as if he sold his ideas to Naughty Dog or Sony, he was an employee that produced a product.. Sour grapes.

@Victor_Meldrew Exactly this. Whatever work you do for a company doesn't belong to you, it belongs to the company. Can't expect lifelong credits and royalty for it lol. That's just how the world works

Of course he should be given credit.

Anyone suggesting otherwise should be slapped repeatedly in the face with a dirty Sticky Hand toy.

@jrt87 The hateboner that some of you clowns have for druckmann is insane. The guy is behind some of the best games in recent years , including TLOU2. While I do think Straley should be included in the credits somewhere, dogpiling on other creatives is not the solution.

Well i can see his point although i can't see this ever becoming a thing. I'm pretty certain that before contributing to these projects that he would have been made aware of exactly what he was entitled to and would have been paid. Its not as if he is or has been treated in the same way that the original creators of superman were treated..now those two really had a reason to have a bit of a whinge..

I guess it falls under the same category as Marvel comics writers not receiving credit or compensation for their contribution to stories used in the MCU. Yeah he should have received credit and some royalties for a property he co-created making a ton of money for HBO and Sony.

@jimbouk TLOU2 is not one of the best games in recent years. And if the TV series decides to follow its plot, watch the ratings burn.

He should get 'created by' credit with Druckmann. Other than that, the property belongs to Sony. If he wanted to get paid... he should have stayed.

Ultimately yes, I agree that unionisation is one path towards a more equitable industry. I also think that Bruce Straley should probably be credited here. But if anything, it would be as a special thanks, along with being credited for the original story of the game, rather than the show that he wasn’t involved in. It’s more complicated than he’s making out.

Short of bolting on the entire game is credits immediately after the episodes credits you’ll never going to recognise everyone involved. I can see why they don’t though. You’d be there for awhile after every episode.

@KilloWertz no, credit is also given if an adaptation is BASED on an original idea/concept/book/ etc. in this instance, the last of us tv show is based on a story/concept/video game (co)created by straley and druckmann. straley should NOT be forgotten because as far as we know, it is possible that last of us wouldn't even exist in its current form without his creative input. what is truly strange about this is that druckmann did not support his old colleague on this matter and threw him under the bus. either that or sony itself did not allow the credit to be acknowledged for unknown reasons — although it would be impossible to find a logical reason for this ommitence.

@jrt87 it's one thing not to like the story but suggesting that the last of us 2 is average from a mechanical/gameplay perspective seems very disingenuous when I think most would agree it's the currently at or near the pinnacle of 3rd-personn stealth/action.

I think a 'created by' or 'special thanks' would have been a nice touch even if perhaps not necessary by the letter of the law.

It's worth remembering that the story was Druckmann's that he brought to Naughty Dog. Clearly he considers it his baby. But Strahley was co-director so surely had a huge influence in shaping every aspect including story and characters, even if nominally I think he was overseeing gameplay.

All I know is 1 with Straley was far better than 2 was without him.

It’s funny that no one is from Bungie is coming out saying they should be credited in the Halo show. No one wants to be associated with that trash.

The guys right though, the industry needs a unions.

Was Straley credited in the Uncharted movie? Or Amy Hennig? I genuinely dont know how this should work in this kind of thing.

Should David Jaffe be credited in the God of War TV show even though its based on the Norse saga developed under Cory Barlog?

Its a knotty issue that gaming companies will need to resolve as they increasingly move into making movies on ther ip.

Ultimately though, i dont think this should detract from what was excellent television.

Also fwiw, the hate Druckman gets is absolutely absurd

@jrt87 what a s*** guy!

damn i missed it ! 🍿🍿 what a thread !

@BeerIsAwesome Yeah its foul he and Neil wrote the story, but Neil doesnt even acknowledge him AT ALL, thats kinda foul in my opinion. No one can say they collaborated with someone then leave them out of the picture. Even the music industry understands that when someone does a remake of a song the ORIGINAL artist gets recognized within the song production as a "contributor".. Just when you think Neil is changing to a better person, he goes and does little things like this..

Thats cool just hearing about bruce straley.its been a long time since we heard anything from him.but come one this guy deserve his credit.hes a icon in the video game industry.he will be a part of naughty dog.he should be credited also.word up son

I don’t know. He got his credit for working on the original game. If he’s not involved in the new show in any way, why should they credit him again?

Y'know, HBO's series is a derivative work, you don't usually get credits in those unless they pick you to be the public face of the OG piece. I doubt other leads were credited too.

Also, this is a minor issue and mostly a vanity one, it would be a major issue if his name was plucked from TLoU Remaster or even the Remake or if he wasn't allowed to say he worked on the project.

I'm not entirely sure where I stand on this topic, I mean Bruce Straley didn't create the show so I get why he wasn't credited, but perhaps a 'Co-created by" or 'Special Thanks' mention wouldn't have been too much to ask for.

Reminds me of the behind-the-scenes issues with AMC The Walking Dead during Season 2, when the Showrunner Frank Darabont was fired, but despite being fired, he was still credited with the show's creation during the opening credits in every episode going forward, however Bruce Straley had no involvement with The Last of Us show whatsoever.

Also I don't believe Amy Hennig was credited in the Uncharted movie, nor Uncharted 4 (I could be wrong though), and David Jaffe isn't credited for God of War 2018 or God of War Ragnarok, whether or not they should is debatable, but it's not like their past contributions were scrubbed from past games, like what Konami did to Kojima with Metal Gear Solid V, and Konami will likely try to credit Kojima as little as possible in any subsequent remakes, remasters or sequels.

Many others here have already addressed this, but I agree with them, the hate for Neil Druckman continues to get from some of you is borderline weird, I swear some of you act like he was caught kicking puppies or pushing old folks into oncoming traffic. It's weird especially considering there are far worse legitimately evil people inside EA, Activision & Konami, but somehow ya'll act like Neil Druckman is somehow worse? It all just seems like petty hate from those that hated The Last of Us Part 2 and nothing else, The Last of Us Part 2 wasn't even that bad a game, but apparently you're not allowed to say anything good about The Last of Us Part 2 without being verbally abused and branded as 'woke' or 'SJW' or some such made-up nonsense. Imagine if I did that to everyone who praises The Witcher 3 or Red Dead Redemption 2, games I despise but also don't have anything against those that happen to like/love those games.

@Porco @Grimwood I'm not saying he shouldn't be credited in some form. I agree that he should. I was just pointing out that him not getting credited for the first episode is nothing new and I was more criticizing the article. They were credited for writing it because they were the two people who wrote it. Bruce should have gotten a "Based on...." credit or something like that though for sure if he really did have a hand in creating things with Neil. It's a bad look for Neil to obviously intentionally omit him, and if I remember correctly, this isn't the first time he's been petty or whatever like this.

Straley was the director and I think was more involved in the 1’s and 0’s coding the game. Druckman was the creative director and had been working on this story since 2001 in college.
Straley getting credit in the show may not be deserved. Otherwise he would be getting a royalty payment for doing nothing.

According to some people here, Bob Kane and Bill Finger don't deserve to be credited in any of the recent Batman films.

@PushButtons druckmanns initial pitch for the last of us was rejected he didn't write it alone alot of people helped create that story & he gets all the credit

bar the Potential royalty does it really matter?

any job he went for would know who he is etc etc.

if the show had flopped this tweet wouldnt be made

@LN78 it’s a tricky one, Bruce is ‘only’ credited as co-Director of the first game but Neil is credited as the sole Writer (whether he wrote the entire thing himself or not). The show is adapting Neils story.

It reminds me of ‘Tim Burton’s’ A Nightmare Before Christmas, even though the movie was directed by Henry Selick and Tim Burton had very little involvement in the film because he was working on other projects. It’s still seen as being ‘Tim Burton’s’ movie because he wrote the Story.

Part 2 is better than the first one.

I personally don’t want to join a union. Also I’m definitely on the side that he’s just upset that a product he used to be associated with is doing well.

CREDIT CREATORS, UP THE WORKERS

No he shouldn't be credited.
He was not involved in the creation of the tv show.
He was involved in creating the game.

Did he have a part in creating the game, yes of course he did and he was credited.

Did he and was he employed by a company who make video games; yes of course, of which were credited at the begining of the show. He has since left the video game company and is no longer associated with them.

What people seem to be forgetting is that the game was made by naughty dog. Not self employed individuals.

Yes he had a hand in directing and adding his own flare to the game but under Naughty Dog and not his own creation, unlike say a book he wrote himself and was turned into a game.

Reality is and people seem to be forgetting this aswel. Neil Druckmann is still employed and works for Naughty Dog and is under Sony, he is directly involved in the process of making the TV series and is high up in Naughty Dog.

If Druckmann had left and Sony decided to greenlight this show then he probably also wouldn't of been credited and Naughty Dog would be credited because it is a Naughty Dog game.

People fail to realise that as much as we love the games and the people behind the games whos creative vision is second to none, unless these individuals are independent developers then they are giving their creativness over to the studio. So the only credit should be given to Naughty Dog the company as it has been.

Just like if I or any of us went to a company and made the company a billion dollar company and then left the company, unless I owned the company, I dont have any rights on the billion dollars just because I was employed by them and made them a success. It just looks good when I go to a new company or start my own business.

Same principle applies here.
It really doesn't matter who's responsible for the story of the last of us, its a Naughty Dog property.

He left the studio in 2017. He would, presumably, have received credit for the projects that he actually worked on.

I understand that the show has been in the works for a while, but unless he provided anything towards it, he shouldnt receive credit.

Unionization would be perfect for them.. I work for Ford here in the states.. we’ve been out of parts for the new ‘23 Escapes and Lincoln’s for nearly 3 weeks now.. thanks to the union (UAW) I’ve been getting full paychecks for essentially breaking in my PS5.. not all unions are great but the United Auto Workers Union is the bees knees

I wonder if Hogwarts Legacy will credit J K Rowling for her creation? I’m guessing not.

@ItsBritneyB_tch its actually not that tricky and your use of Tim Burtons Nightmare Before Christmas is a good example to use but in the wrong way.

Bruce was employed and worked for Naughty Dog, its basically in his job description to make video games, which are story based. So even if he had wrote the Story it was for his job and Naughty Dog. Not his own work even if it was his own story. He is employed, he is not an outside source.

Tim Burton on the other hand may of wrote the story, but he is not employed by anyone. He writes a film (same for any film writer) and then ships it around to sell the film to the highest bidder. Its solely his story alone and the film companies produce it.

Its quite simple even if people don't agree it is what it is and shouldn't be any different

@MrMeeeseeeks again it depends what the deal is. End of the day, agree or disagree with her personal opinions, she wrote and created the entire Harry Potter story on her own, its her work entirely, she was never employed by someone to write a story.

Ahh, the nebulous realm of IP law. You can direct the entire game and still not be considered a creator of the IP, which is what's being adapted. He's certainly not the owner of the IP. Unfortunately, that's all the law would look to in this situation. I fail to see how unionization would help in his situation, it works very similarly in TV show production and animation production. Both predominantly unionized.

With the information we have, it appears to me that credits have been given appropriately. Credit for the game is rightfully given to Naughty Dog via “based on the the Playstation Studios video game by Naughty Dog and written by Neil Druckmann”. Credit for the show is rightfully given to the showrunners, which include Mr. Druckmann. I don’t see how Mr. Straley is entitled to a credit on this production, though a shout out or special thanks would certainly have been a nice show of appreciation. The fact that the show is currently sitting at 99% on Rotten Tomatoes and Mr. Straley recently starting up his own game company after an extended absence from game development gives the optics of sour grapes. Who really knows what’s gone on though.

@Would_you_kindly The game director's role/duties are to meet deadlines, supervise, and review the development process, not create or write. However, anyone working outside of their contracted role and responsibilities such as the game director volunteering their time to make creative art and writing suggestions does not entitle them to be credited especially in another format they had nothing to do with. Neil was the creative director and all aspects of the story had to be approved by him. And he had been working on the foundation of the story since 2001. Game development and film production are two different things and Bruce had nothing to do with HBO's show.

@Jimmer-jammer the last of us was created by both, straley and druckmann. It was pitched to ND as a collaborative effort, therefore straley is credited as co-creator of the franchise. he should be credited for the "playstation studios video game..." portion of the tv show credits in that case, right? hiding the co-creator of the franchise under the ND banner is incredibly disrespectful and might not even be legal.

@Porco The Last of Us was a collaborative creation by Naughty Dog. Druckmann is credited as writer and Straley is credited as game director. There is no discrepancy with this the way the credits have been doled out for the show. Should Straley be credited in American Dreams? Should Anthony Newman and Kurt Margenau be credited in the show’s inevitable season 2? Further, should Mazin then be credited in any future games that happen to lift something from the show? It all gets a bit messy. I agree that, on a personal level, a mention in some capacity of Straley was the least that could be done here, but I really don’t see how he’s entitled to have his name front and centre on this particular production.

Amy Hennig and Bruce are two of the biggest reasons that Naughty Dog became great. So, yeah, it’s *****.

@Jimmer-jammer i think there is a misunderstanding here with the terms you are using. straley is not only credited as game director, but he is also credited as a co-creator of the franchise itself, along with druckmann. they both made the pitch to ND president to get the game greenlit. co-creator of the franchise is very diferent than game director. without the creation of the concept/scenario, there is no game, let alone a director or writer of said game. i am open to being wrong on this, but to me it sounds like straley's role is just as integral as druckmann's in getting the last of us off the ground and both should be equally credited when it comes to the tv show being "based on" the game.

@Porco Yeah, I’m definitely open to being wrong in this as well, I just don’t see the way it’s been done as a problem and think the whole thing fuels this unwarranted hate towards Druckmann that seems to spread rapidly around gaming circles left unchecked. We can at least agree that Straley should have been mentioned or thanked or something somewhere along the way. Seems like the right thing to do.

@themightyant Yeah, almost every comic book/graphic novel movie or show gives credit to the people who originally created the characters. In this case, I don't know anywhere near all of the information. He probably should get some form of credit one way or the other, but obviously that didn't happen. If he had a real hand in creating the characters, the world, etc. then this is just Neil being a real you know what.

Regardless, this is a bad look for Neil and this is not really the first time he's come off as something less than favorable. In the end, it's their business though. I still want to watch the show every week.

Another "the last of us" drama. Getting boring.

@Porco Thanks. Then it's basically settled that Bruce should have gotten a "Based on..." credit then. I also wish he never left Naughty Dog, but that's another story.

@Porco Thanks for that! For me personally, and for as much as I can glean from this piece, it solidifies my position on the matter. Cheers!

Straley left ND before the show was even announced, if he expects to get credited for the show then surely he must also accept every dev that worked on the original game should be credited too?

@viciousarcanum Here is the thing, he doesn't... he just wants his name on there because the show is highly successful (critically and by fans). He couldn't care less about the others that worked in the game having their names in there too.

As right now, he comes as an opportunist, simple as that, and anyone that thinks otherwise is delusional.

I think, when one creates something it is his intelectual property, ergo another one who it trying to parasite on his property ( world, characters, names, title) even if trying do something non-similar and screw it up, should pay to those who found it.