Uncharted 4 is already in development – most likely as a PlayStation 4 exclusive – and we will probably see actual gameplay footage at Sony’s E3 press conference on June 9th, but in an interview with GameInformer, Naughty Dog confirmed that they also have another project underway and early in development.
For those worried that this will spread the development talent pool thin, it’s worth noting that Naughty Dog has two different teams, and that these teams created both The Last of Us and Uncharted 3 alongside each other. In other words, there should be no concerns that the highly reputable studio is dividing its precious resources.
What gamers should be asking themselves is, what could the project turn out to be? There’s always a chance that the second property could be a sequel to The Last of Us, but there are just too many factors working against that theory. For starters, creative directors Neil Druckmann and Bruce Straley have gone on record multiple times saying that they told the story they wanted to tell, and that there isn’t much left to do with Joel and Ellie’s respective arcs.
If a sequel were to be made, it would exist in the same universe but most likely have an entirely different cast of characters and plot. The largest piece of information ruling out a sequel, though, is the fact that both of these guys are already heavily involved with the creative direction of Uncharted 4. There’s no way in hell a sequel for The Last of Us would enter production without being meticulously handled by the fathers of the franchise.
We are still left with many interesting options however, such as another installment into the Jak And Daxter franchise, which notably saw no new games at all last generation. There’s also the possibility that Naughty Dog is basing their next project off of Savage Starlight – a series of space opera comic books that Ellie reads in The Last of Us. Why, you ask? Well, Naughty Dog has even created a website for Savage Starlight, which hasn’t been used for anything as of yet.
Obviously, you can’t rule out an entirely new IP, either. The bottom line is that Naughty Dog has been responsible for some of the greatest franchises and games that have spanned the entire lifecycle of the PlayStation brand, so whatever they’re doing should be on your radar.