Evan Wells
Evan Wells | |
|---|---|
| Wells at the Game Developers Choice Awards in 2010 | |
| Nationality | American |
| Alma mater | Stanford University |
| Occupation(s) | Game director, artist |
| Years active | 1993–2023 |
| Employer | Naughty Dog |
| Title | Co-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.
Career
[edit ]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
[edit ]Video games
[edit ]| Year | Game title | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 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
[edit ]| Year | Title | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 2013 | Grounded: Making The Last of Us | Documentary[10] |
| 2015 | Conversations with Creators | Web series; Episode 2[11] |
| 2022 | Uncharted | Film; executive producer[7] |
| 2023 | The Last of Us | Television series; executive producer[8] |
References
[edit ]- ^ "Naughty Dog 30th Anniversary Contest". welovefine. Mighty Fine. Archived from the original on August 21, 2017. Retrieved July 27, 2017.
- ^ "How Crash Team Racing Challenged Mario Kart and Made Naughty Dog What It is Today". February 7, 2019.
- ^ a b c d e "Naughty Dog's Evan Wells". Eurogamer . Gamer Network. November 16, 2007. Archived from the original on August 21, 2017. Retrieved July 27, 2017.
- ^ 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.
- ^ 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.
- ^ 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.
- ^ a b 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.
- ^ a b Otterson, Joe (March 5, 2020). "'The Last of Us' Series in Development at HBO From 'Chernobyl' Creator". Variety . Retrieved March 5, 2020.
- ^ 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.
- ^ 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.
- ^ 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.
External links
[edit ]- Evan Wells at IMDb