Naughty Dog co-presidents Evan Wells and Christophe Balestra have rejected claims that Uncharted creative director Amy Hennig was "forced out" of the company.

Hennig left the popular developer earlier this week, after having worked on the Uncharted series for over a decade. Sources were said to have claimed she was "forced out" by The Last of Us creative directors Neil Druckmann and Bruce Straley, who would assume control over the new Uncharted title in development for PlayStation 4.

Wells and Balestra have now issued a statement saying that Straley and Druckmann were not involved in Hennig's departure:

"Earlier this week we had to confirm the regrettable news that Amy Hennig has left Naughty Dog. She will be missed and, as we stated before, we appreciate the significant contributions that she has made to Naughty Dog and the industry in general. We wish her the best."

"However, we feel it necessary to clear up a very important point that was unprofessionally misreported when the story broke. Bruce Straley and Neil Druckmann were NOT involved in what transpired. It was very upsetting to us that dozens of stories were run, linking back to the same hurtful accusations in the original report. As co-presidents of Naughty Dog, we are responsible for all studio affairs."

"Normally, we wouldn't respond to rumours and speculation on matters that are internal to Naughty Dog, but because the personal reputation of two of our employees is being damaged we needed to set the record straight. There is nothing left to be said on this subject. Now we're going back to what we should be focused on--making games."

"It's super reassuring to know our bosses, [Wells and Balestra] have our backs," said Straley on Twitter. "Thanks guys!"

Sony has said that Hennig's departure will not affect the development of Uncharted on PS4.