The Last of Us remake is being led by the director of Marvel’s Avengers

The creative director for the newly-announced remake of The Last of Us: Part 1 had the same role on Marvel’s Avengers.

Shaun Escayg, who wrote and designed Avengers after leaving Naughty Dog, confirmed in April 2021 that he had rejoined his former employer.

Now, following the game’s official reveal at this year’s Summer Game Fest, Escayg took to Twitter to confirm that he was the remake’s creative director.

“So proud of our team on the incredible work done on The Last Of Us remake trailer shown at the #sgf2022,” Escayg wrote.

“This game was my introduction into making games and so holds a very special place in the feels for me. Honoured to be the Creative Director on this remake!”

Elsewhere, Matthew Gallant, who had worked on the original Last of Us as a game designer and its sequel as a lead systems designer, confirmed that he’s the game director on the remake.

“Excited to share that I got to step into the role of game director on The Last of Us Part I, working alongside Shaun Escayg,” Gallant wrote.

“I was a fledgling designer when I worked on the original almost a decade ago, and it’s been a delight to revisit this beloved game.”

Escayg had been creative director at Naughty Dog between 2011 and 2018, where he had been a cinematic animator on the original Last of Us and game director for Uncharted: The Lost Legacy, before leaving to join Crystal Dynamics and work on Avengers.

He then left Crystal Dynamics in April 2021, some eight months after the release of Avengers, to return to Naughty Dog and work on the Last of Us remake.

Marvel’s Avengers’ performance suffered partly due to technical problems present at launch. In addition, a lack of post-launch content, including delays to planned expansions and next-gen versions of the game, contributed to a dwindling player count.

Following Escayg’s departure, the game continued to suffer from major issues. In November, Square Enix and Crystal Dynamics removed paid XP boosts from the game following a backlash from fans over their introduction.