What\u2019s next for Naughty Dog? Predicting the next games from Sony\u2019s biggest studio Naughty DogNaughty Dog has arguably become Sony\u2019s \u2018golden studio\u2019 after back-to-back generations of critical masterpieces and extraordinary sales. One year removed from the release of The Last of Us Part II, however, and the acclaimed PlayStation devs have remained rather quiet. Here\u2019s what they might be working on next. Over the course of the past few generations, Naughty Dog has cemented itself as one of the industry\u2019s most ambitious and successful developers. From the early days of Crash Bandicoot through to their unrivaled technical marvels on the PlayStation 4, the Santa Monica studio has become synonymous with pushing the medium forward. Having now entered a new decade, and with Sony\u2019s powerful PlayStation 5 hardware at their disposal, one can only be giddy at the thought of Naughty Dog\u2019s next project. Though while other studios have opted to reveal their new-gen plans years in advance, Sony\u2019s \u2018top dogs\u2019 have kept all but silent. As co-president Neil Druckmann assists on the silver screen adaptation of The Last of Us, what are the hundreds of talented storytellers, programmers, and artists working on at Naughty Dog? Here\u2019s what we might be in store for next. The Last of Us Part III The most obvious pick for Naughty Dog\u2019s next title would be the third \u2013 and perhaps final \u2013 entry in The Last of Us series. While eight years passed between the original release and Part II in 2020, we know for a fact that an outline for a third chapter has already been written. [Co-writer Halley Gross] and I did write an outline for a story that we\u2019re not making,\u201d Druckmann revealed during an appearance on the Script Apart podcast. While no further plans appear to be in motion just yet, he \u201chopes\u201d the third act will eventually \u201csee the light of day.\u201d This next chapter would explore \u201cwhat happens after [Part II], though any proper commitment to its development remains \u201cup in the air.\u201d Regardless of your thoughts on the latest entry and its daring narrative, no one can deny the impact of Part II. With 261 game of the year awards to its name, the most of any title in history, the sequel quickly became the third best-selling PlayStation game of all time. Now 12 months on from Naughty Dog\u2019s latest success, with a third chapter already laid out, it would certainly make a ton of sense for Sony to be pushing for the next entry. Just how long that might take to hit store shelves though, remains to be seen. If early development is yet to begin, Part III could easily still be 3-5 years off. The Last of Us Remake A remake of the original Last of Us is happening. We know this for certain thanks to an April 9 report from Bloomberg that outted the project has already been underway for quite some time. Originally, a Sony support studio in San Diego was reportedly leading the PS5 remake. This team was soon relegated to a supporting role in the game\u2019s development, with the original developers at Naughty Dog taking over. There\u2019s no telling how big this team might be, nor how far along the project already is. While we already received a PS4 remaster in 2014, this project appears to be a complete remake from the ground up. In all likelihood, this remake could be designed as a way to boost sales around HBO\u2019s upcoming adaptation. With filming now underway for the Pedro Pascal-led television series, a remake launching around the first season could bring new fans to the PS5. The Last of Us Factions When the original Last of Us arrived on the PS3, it did so with an innovative multiplayer experience. For the sequel, Naughty Dog originally had ambitions of doing the same, launching its narrative follow-up alongside a brand new multiplayer component. Ahead of Part II\u2019s release, however, and the devs decided to scrap those plans. The vision for Factions \u201cgrew beyond an additional mode,\u201d Naughty Dog explained in September of 2019. At that stage, it was made clear multiplayer won\u2019t be part of Part II and instead, serve as a standalone project later down the line. An update regarding multiplayer: pic.twitter.com\/CUd98LgJGC \u2014 Naughty Dog (@Naughty_Dog) September 27, 2019 Years have passed since this announcement and we\u2019re yet to see any updates on the status of Factions. New multiplayer-based job listings were even spotted early this year, suggesting the project still has a ways to go. A group of developers are clearly still working on this multiplayer experience, though there\u2019s no telling how much longer fans will have to wait. The Last of Us PSVR experience Finally for the Last of Us franchise, wouldn\u2019t it be all too fitting to see one of the best-selling IPs jump to the world of virtual reality? While we haven\u2019t had any rumors on this potential development, it would certainly make a whole lot of sense. Sony recently unveiled the first details surrounding its next-gen PSVR equipment. With potentially millions invested into this next era of technological innovation, Sony would surely want a handful of its 15 first-party studios developing exclusives for the hardware. What better way to launch the upcoming equipment than with an ambitious title from arguably their most popular studio? Naughty Dog is no stranger to such technological innovation, though virtual reality would be something new and exciting for the team at Santa Monica. With all of PSVR 2\u2019s improvements over the original, a new Last of Us project could be one of the best ways to showcase its potential. Fending off infected from this new perspective would obviously create a more immersive gameplay experience. The game\u2019s heart-pounding horror beats would only be elevated by this first-person pivot. Not to mention the storytelling opportunities the team could delve into without having to impact Ellie\u2019s journey. A standalone VR title could shed light on new characters, at a different stage in the post-outbreak narrative, perhaps even exploring a completely different side of the world. Read More: Everything we know about Deathloop – The opportunity for a compelling VR experience is wide open and with hundreds of employees at the ready, a smaller team within Naughty Dog could be hard at work on a PSVR release already. Scrapped sci-fi project While Savage Starlight might or might not be Naughty Dog\u2019s next Sci-Fi game, they already cancelled a Sci-Fi Adventure many years ago: https:\/\/t.co\/mJDbJ7SgiG pic.twitter.com\/qSdIPZ51x1 \u2014 Unseen64 (@Unseen64) January 8, 2019 Before Uncharted ever came to be, Naughty Dog experimented with the idea of a new sci-fi game instead. Revealed in their very own art book from 2014, the team had put together a unique sci-fi pitch \u201ccomplete with androids, robots, and futuristic weapons.\u201d The idea for the title revolved around a \u201cgiant hole in the ground. No one knew exactly what created the hole, but the adventure would have the player exploring the depths.\u201d While this project was discarded at the time, former Game Director Bruce Straley teased that it was still \u201cvery possible\u201d the idea comes to fruition sooner or later. \u201cThere\u2019s still a story, there are some great game ideas. I don\u2019t think anybody else could do this game like Naughty Dog,\u201d he said. Rather than conceptualizing a whole new universe, there\u2019s a good chance Naughty Dog simply looked back through the archives before settling on their next title. Speaking of sci-fi, for all we know, Savage Starlight may have already laid the foundation for Naughty Dog\u2019s next release. Scattered throughout The Last of Us as hidden collectibles, this comic book series focused on Dr. Daniela Star\u2019s adventures in the year 2186 as she battled an alien force known as the Travelers. Fans haven\u2019t let this theory go since the 2013 title hit store shelves. Maybe it\u2019s about time we see Naughty Dog venture into outer space. After all, the devs have a tendency to tease their next projects directly in earlier titles. New Uncharted spinoff Back in April, industry insider Jason Schreier reported that an Uncharted spinoff was indeed in the works. However, it was Bend Studio steering the ship, having previously worked on Uncharted Golden Abyss for the PlayStation Vita. While this project was ultimately discarded as Bend began work on an entirely new IP, it\u2019s evident Sony is high on the idea of an Uncharted spinoff. No surprise, given the Nathan Drake quadrilogy topped more than 41m copies sold by 2017. If you\u2019re yet to play through the games yourself, we won\u2019t spoil the endings here, but the series now has multiple routes wide open for potential spinoffs. We already saw how successful a non-Drake storyline can be with Chloe and Nadine\u2019s Lost Legacy. It certainly feels as though it\u2019s a matter of when, not if, a new Uncharted will hit store shelves. If Naughty Dog is divided into smaller teams once again, it wouldn\u2019t be all too surprising if one group is handling a fresh Uncharted project. Something entirely new As a final option, there\u2019s always a chance we see something fresh. Barring the PlayStation 4, we\u2019ve seen one new Naughty Dog IP with each new console generation. While the PlayStation 5 is still fairly hard to come by, that\u2019s not to say early development hasn\u2019t already kicked off for a new game to release midway through the generation. As masters of linear storytelling, it\u2019s a safe bet to assume the devs won\u2019t venture too far from their bread and butter, just with a new coat of paint. Therefore, it\u2019s probably fair not to expect anything too outlandish. An open-world game that lives up to the Naughty Dog standard could take a decade to develop, for instance. Moreover, a change to the first-person perspective could drastically alter their design process. So a third-person shooter to some degree, is more likely than not. Exactly what form that might take is anyone\u2019s guess. We\u2019re closing in on a decade since Naughty Dog\u2019s last original universe was put out into the wild. Who knows what type of setting the devs might delve into for their next original story. With more than 500 employees at the time of writing, it\u2019s fair to assume Naughty Dog is tackling multiple projects at once. Various teams could be juggling a mix of remakes, multiplayer experiences, technological innovations on new hardware, and everything in between. Read More: 9 most exciting PS5 games coming in 2021 – Now one year on from The Last of Us Part II, it\u2019s only a matter of time until we get our first teaser of what\u2019s next.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
What\u2019s next for Naughty Dog? Predicting the next games from Sony\u2019s biggest studio Naughty DogNaughty Dog has arguably become Sony\u2019s \u2018golden studio\u2019 after back-to-back generations of critical masterpieces and extraordinary sales. One year removed from the release of The Last of Us Part II, however, and the acclaimed PlayStation devs have remained rather quiet. Here\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-86218","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86218","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=86218"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86218\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=86218"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=86218"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=86218"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}