Evan Wells
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.
Evan Wells

Official GDC · Game Developers Choice Awards @ GDC 2010 · CC BY 2.0
- Occupation
- * Game director
- Education
- Stanford University
- Nationality
- United States.
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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.
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Evan Wells was a designer and executive producer, of American nationality.
The designer was educated at Stanford University. Evan Wells lived in Los Angeles County.
Composed from admitted, traceable facts · 26 September 2026
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In this article
Biography
Biography
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.
Key facts
Key facts
• Occupation — * Game director • artist • Years Active — 1993–2023 • Employer — Naughty Dog • Title — Co-president • Education — Stanford University
Career
Career
Evan Wells graduated from Stanford University in 1995 with a computer science degree. 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), Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy (2001), Jak II (2003), Jak 3 (2004) and Jak X: Combat Racing (2005). 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. Neil Druckmann was promoted to vice president in March 2018, and to co-president alongside Wells in December 2020. Wells was an executive producer on the film Uncharted (2022), and on the television adaptation of The Last of Us with HBO. In July 2023, Wells announced he would retire by the end of the year. He was inducted into the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences's Hall of Fame at the 29th Annual D.I.C.E. Awards in February 2026, presented by Druckmann.
Video games
Video games
• Year — Game title — Role • 1993 — ToeJam & Earl in Panic on Funkotron — Lead tester, level design • 1995 — Gex — Programmer • 1998 — Gex: Enter the Gecko — Lead designer • 1998 — Crash Bandicoot: Warped — Lead designer • 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
Identity and overview
Identity and overview
The following is established of the heading itself.
Works and production
Works and production
The following works and productions are recorded by name or by count. Institutional cataloguing adds that head and neck cancer / edited by P.H. Rhys Evans, P.E. Bagnigge Wells: the exterior, with heaps of wood and stone in the foreground.
Film and television
• Year — Title — Notes • 2013 — Grounded: Making The Last of Us — Documentary • 2015 — Conversations with Creators — Web series; Episode 2 • 2022 — Uncharted — Film; executive producer • 2023–present — The Last of Us — Television series; executive producer
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.Mighty Fine. Naughty Dog 30th Anniversary Contest. welovefine.
- 2.How Crash Team Racing Challenged Mario Kart and Made Naughty Dog What It is Today. 7 February 2019.
- 3.Gamer Network. Naughty Dog's Evan Wells. Eurogamer. 16 November 2007.
- 4.Dornbush, Jonathon. Naughty Dog Co-President Christophe Balestra Announces Departure From Studio. IGN. Ziff Davis. March 8, 2017.
- 5.Wells, Evan. An Update from Studio President Evan Wells. Naughty Dog. Sony Interactive Entertainment. March 9, 2018.
- 6.Valentine, Rebekah. Neil Druckmann named co-president of Naughty Dog. Gamesindustry.biz. Gamer Network. December 4, 2020.
- 7.Croft, Liam. Naughty Dog Co-President Evan Wells Announces His Retirement. Push Square. Hookshot Media. July 11, 2023.
- 8.McEvoy, Sophie. Evan Wells to be inducted into AIAS Hall of Fame. GamesIndustry.biz. Gamer Network. January 6, 2026.
- 9.Sony Computer Entertainment. Grounded: Making The Last of Us. 2013.
- 10.Wheaton, Wil. Conversations with Creators with Wil Wheaton Premieres July 7th. PlayStation Blog. Sony Computer Entertainment. June 22, 2015.
- 11.Complex, Valerie. 'Uncharted' Trailer: Tom Holland Is Video Game Adventurer Nathan Drake. Deadline Hollywood. Penske Media Corporation. October 21, 2021.
- 12.Otterson, Joe. 'The Last of Us' Series in Development at HBO From 'Chernobyl' Creator. Variety. March 5, 2020.
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This entry is compiled from 5 catalogued sources across 5 independent registers. The registers consulted are Wikidata, Wikipedia, The Art Institute of Chicago, Internet Archive and Wellcome Collection. Every statement above is held against the register that stated it; where the registers are silent, the entry is silent.
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 16 August 2026.
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