Former The Last of Us director, Bruce Straley has called for unionisation following a credit snub in the live-action series from HBO.
Straley co-directed the original game in the Naughty Dog series up to The Last of Us: Part 2, as well as Uncharted 4. The director has advocated for a union to ensure that developers are credited for their contributions towards a series.
Should Straley be credited for The Last of Us TV series?
Speaking to LA Times (thanks Eurogamer), Straley voiced his concerns about not being included in the credits of The Last of Us TV series from HBO.
Straley co-directed The Last of Us video games alongside Neil Druckmann. The latter of whom was credited in the HBO adaptation, which premiered this week.
Some could argue that Druckmann was mentioned in the credits of the TV series due to his involvement as a producer alongside Craig Mazin.
However, Straley does make very valid points towards the case being made. While addressing the credit snub, Straley said that this could be an “argument for unionisation”.
He continued: “Someone who was part of the co-creation of that world and those characters isn’t getting a credit or a nickel for the work they put into it. Straley concluded, “Maybe we need unions in the video game industry to be able to protect creators”.
The Last of Us and Uncharted director has formed his own studio
Straley had been with Naughty Dog for 18 years and parted ways with the developer in 2017. After taking a break from the industry, he recently returned to form his new studio, Wildflower Interactive.
There seems to be a problem in the video game industry
Sadly, it seems that it’s not an uncommon practice for employees to not be credited for their work in the video game industry, after leaving a project.
In 2021, MercuryStream left ex-developers out of the Metroid Dread credits. Most recently, The Callisto Protocol studio, Striking Distance Studios were also accused of something similar.
In related news, the first episode of The Last of Us TV series from HBO was the second-highest debut for the network in a decade. Only beaten by the likes of House of Dragon.
Are you in support of Bruce Straley and do ex-employees deserve more credit? Let us know your thoughts across our social media channels.
While you’re here, be sure to check out our video of the week. 10 of the scariest horror games of all time are shown off. What is your favourite horror game?
Featured Image Credit: Naughty Dog/Source: Eurogamer via LA Times