Naughty Dog co-president says the studio is "moving on" from Uncharted
Was A Thief's End a farewell for the series, or just Drake?
Looks like Naughty Dog might be finished with the Uncharted series.
Speaking with Buzzfeed, studio co-president Neil Druckmann said the team is "moving on" from it.
"Uncharted was insanely successful," said Druckmann. "Uncharted 4 was one of our best-selling games, and we're able to put our final brushstroke on that story and say that we're done. We're moving on."
Does this mean the studio is finished with the series for good, or just Nathan Drake's story? Only Naughty Dog knows for sure.
But, that's not to say another Uncharted couldn't come from a different Sony studio. In April 2021 it was rumored that Days Gone developer Sony Bend was at one time working on an unannounced title in the franchise.
The report stated Sony assigned a group from the studio to develop the new Uncharted game under Naughty Dog’s supervision. A second team from Sony Bend was also partnered up with Naughty Dog to work on a multiplayer game.
It seems many at Bend were unhappy with Sony's decisions, so some staffers and those in higher positions at Bend left the company. This is because many were afraid the studio would be absorbed into Naughty Dog. Subsequently, the studio's leads asked to be taken off the project, and are now working on their own title.
It is unknown whether the new Uncharted game is still in development, but according to Bloomberg, it was at least on paper at Bend.
As far as The Last of Us is concerned, other than the upcoming multiplayer game, Part 3 is up in the air. Should the team come up with a compelling story, there may be a third entry. In the end, it is up to the studio whether it wants to continue the story or not.
"Our process is the same thing we did when we did Part 2, which is if we can come up with a compelling story that has this universal message and statement about love — just like the first and second game did — then we will tell that story," Druckmann said. "If we can't come up with something, we have a very strong ending with Part 2 and that will be the end."
Naughty Dog does have a story outline for a Part 3, according to Druckmann, who wrote it along with co-writer Halley Gross. While not wanting to reveal too much, Druckmann told the Script Apart podcast in April 2021 the outline explores what happens after The Last of Us Part 2.
He went on to say that while the team is not working on a third installment, he hoped it "one day can see the light of day."