Neil Druckmann

Neil Druckmann was born in 1978 in Tel Aviv

Druckmann was born in Tel Aviv on December 5, 1978, to a Jewish family. In 1981 the family moved from Ramat Aviv to Beit Aryeh, where his father worked as a flight test engineer for Israel Aerospace Industries. His older brother Emanuel introduced him to comics, video games and movies, which helped him learn English.

In 1989 the family moved to the United States, and he went to school in Miami, Florida. He first studied criminology at Florida State University, then switched to computer science and graduated cum laude. In 2003 he began a master's degree in entertainment technology at Carnegie Mellon University and earned it in 2005.

He joined Naughty Dog as a programming intern in 2004 and worked on Jak 3 and Jak X: Combat Racing. He then moved into design on Uncharted: Drake's Fortune and was co-lead game designer and co-writer of Uncharted 2: Among Thieves. He also wrote comics and graphic novels, including A Second Chance at Sarah.

Druckmann was writer and creative director of The Last of Us and Uncharted 4: A Thief's End, and directed The Last of Us Part II. He became vice president in 2018, co-president in 2020 and studio head in 2024. He co-created the television adaptation of The Last of Us with Craig Mazin, and in July 2025 announced he was leaving his creative role on the series.