Beloved treasure hunter and action man Nathan Drake may not have entered permanent retirement after all.
Following the release of Uncharted 4: Theif’s End back in 2016, both fans and series creator Naughty Dog considered the PlayStation 4 exclusive to be something of a conclusion to Nathan’s story and while that remains true, studio head Neil Druckmann has recently signalled that a potential Uncharted 5 could one day become a reality. In recalling the development process behind The Last of Us in a recent episode of Retro Replay – a let’s play channel fronted by co-creators and professional voice actors Troy Baker and Nolan North – discussion soon turned to Naughty Dog’s other critically acclaimed franchise.
“You just realise we’re not going to top that so we’re going to do something different,” says Druckmann in reference to the series. He continues, “And then kinda similarly with the sequel is first of all: do we want to make it and we’re lucky that we have the freedom that Sony gives us where we can choose? We made Uncharted 4 and we haven’t made another Uncharted since, maybe one day we will, we’ll see.”
A non-committal response, then, but that’s to be expected. With the studio currently hard at work on ensuring it gets The Last of Us: Part II out the door on time, Nathan Drake’s potential return will assuredly be a proposition not ready for serious consideration until sometime in the distant future. What’s important, though, is that the team responsible for some of the best action-adventure experiences money can buy isn’t averse to bringing the series back, leaving the door firmly open.
With Sony on the cusp of announcing a new hardware generation in the form of PlayStation 5, we wouldn’t at all be surprised to see it bring back Mr. Drake as a means of enticing lapsed consumers back into the fold. As Druckmann says, we’ll see, but in the meantime, let us know what you’d like to see from a potential Uncharted 5 in the usual place below!