Todd Howard grilled Neil Druckmann about The Last of Us over dinner

Former Naughty Dog artist Heather Cerlan told journalist Kiwi Talkz that Bethesda Game Studios director Todd Howard is a superfan of Naughty Dog's Neil Druckmann. During Heather's first week at Bethesda, Todd invited her to lunch and spent the entire meal asking about Neil.

Full marks for this move. A figure at Todd's level, starstruck like that. Picture it: the man behind The Elder Scrolls and Fallout sitting across from you, eyes lit up, asking "What's Neil working on? What does he like to talk about?"

Players aren't having it. Some fired back: "Todd doesn't deserve to be mentioned in the same breath as 'the god of video games' Neil." Harsh words, though The Last of Us series did set a new bar for narrative and presentation. Then again, Todd's open-world work is an industry benchmark—they're just different approaches.

Here's what matters: this reveals something about the industry—top creators admire each other. Todd setting aside ego to fanboy shows he respects Naughty Dog's cinematic storytelling. Maybe one day we'll see a Fallout take on post-apocalyptic father-daughter drama.

Now watch the camps form. Todd supporters call it "humble and curious." Neil supporters point to "the skill gap." No need to rank them—both are masters at emptying player wallets, and that's what counts.