According to insider Daniel Ritchman (as reported on his paywalled Patreon page), Santa Monica-based developer Naughty Dog quietly canceled an unannounced single-player game earlier this year. The project had been in development for over a year following the cancellation of The Last of Us Online, the ambitious multiplayer game that was ultimately canceled because Naughty Dog did not want to turn into a live-service games studio (after Bungie explained to them what it would mean).
As you might remember, towards the latter end of its development, The Last of Us Online was being directed by Vinit Agarwal, who previously worked as Game Designer on Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End, Uncharted: The Lost Legacy, and The Last of Us Part II. He then moved on to this unannounced project, which was still in its infancy when it was canceled. Agarwal subsequently left Naughty Dog.
Again, according to Richtman, another unannounced single-player title is in the works at the studio. This one is further along in development, having started around three years ago. Its director is Shaun Escayg, who returned to Naughty Dog in April 2021 after a brief stint at Crystal Dynamics as the Director of the ill-fated Marvel’s Avengers. Escayg was previously credited as the Lead Cinematic Animator on The Last of Us and Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End, and later directed Uncharted: The Lost Legacy.
There’s no further information on this game, but we might learn something more concrete in the next couple of years, at least based on the usual development timeframe of a triple-A game. Of course, the main project at Naughty Dog remains Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet, a brand new sci-fi intellectual property announced at The Game Awards 2024. This action/adventure game is directed by Neil Druckmann, the company’s president and the renowned creator of The Last of Us (and current executive producer on the HBO show). Druckmann recently said it’ll be a game where players will feel lonely, unlike most Naughty Dog titles, where the protagonist is accompanied by friends and teammates. Religion will be a central theme.
The game has no release date yet, but Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier reckons it won’t launch before 2027. It will launch on PlayStation 5 and, presumably, on PC after a while.
