Turn on your mind for New naughty Dog. A new tease from Naughty Dog senior cinematic animator Marianne Hayden has attracted the attention of Uncharted fans. Of course, we know Naughty Dog is currently busy with The Last of Us Part 2 multiplayer game. We also know it’s begun work on its next proper release.
Judging by the studio’s recent history of releases, this game will be Uncharted 5. However, Naughty Dog has also suggested the IP may be on the ice for a while. All of this is to say that we have no clue what’s next for the studio, unlike in the past.
To this end, Hayden recently took to Twitter and revealed that she’s back to work in the motion capture studio. Of course, the question is, what for? Well, in the picture, Hayden is wearing a shirt for The Last of Us Part 2, leading some to believe this is for the previous multiplayer release. Meanwhile, others in The Last of Us Part 2 camp speculate this is for a PS5 Director’s Cut.
New Naughty Dog is on the street.
Naughty Dog is currently making its first-ever standalone multiplayer game, but what other projects might the studio make in the future? We don’t know for sure just yet, but Naughty Dog co-president Evan Wells said fans could look forward to the studio making new IP and working on established franchises.
“I think the easy answer is: both. I think there’s excitement to develop new IP, but there is still a ton of love for Uncharted and The Last of Us, and I think you’ll see both kinds of projects from us in the future,” Wells said in an interview.
Naughty Dog is known for its big, cinematic single-player story-focused games, and you can expect this to continue in the future.
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“Single-player experiences are near and dear to us. It’s what has attracted a lot of people to Naughty Dog, and that’s what inspires them, so I think we’re going to keep at it as long as we can,” Wells said.
Naughty Dog’s Neil Druckmann is also quoted in the interview, saying Naughty Dog studio owner Sony has never come to the team with a mandate to make a certain type of game.
“There has never been a mandate like, ‘Oh, this is where we see the winds shifting. Can you start making this kind of game instead?’ We know just as they know that when you work on something you’re excited by, something you’re passionate about, you’re going to do great work,” he said.
One of Naughty Dog’s first successful games was Jak and Daxter, and Wells said if the studio had “endless resources and time,” it would be fun to return to making “lighter fare” games like that. “You look at what Insomniac is doing with Ratchet and Clank, and it’s exciting. It’s great to see that stuff. We’re just limited with time, you know, I’m 48 years old, and how many more games do you get to make, so you got to pick and choose,” Wells said.
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As for Druckmann, he said when Naughty Dog finishes a particular project, the team will spend “quite a bit of time” deciding what to do next and if it should make a new IP or dig back into its catalog for a sequel.
“We really take our time with it, and if you were to see our folders of concept art, you’d see unused concepts that are all over the gamut,” Druckmann said. “Then we look at everything, and we ask ourselves what we excited by are? What’s something that’s going to challenge us and push us, and push the medium as far as games can be? Because that inspiration is so important to carry through years of production.”
The Bottom Line
Unfortunately, right now, all PlayStation fans have is speculation. Based on the studio’s history, this work could be related to a new Uncharted game. Meanwhile, this work could be a remake of The Last of Us or a new IP based on rumors and reports.
And of course, this could be nothing more than The Last of Us Part 2 multiplayer or a PS5 Director’s Cut of the game. In other words, not only do PlayStation fans have nothing but speculation at this point, but the speculation is pulling them in all different types of directions.
As always, feel free to hit the comments section with your thoughts or hit me up on Twitter @9to5game and let me know over there. What do you want to see next from Naughty Dog? What do you think Hayden and co. are working on in the picture above?
