Naughty Dog is undoubtedly one of Sony’s crown jewels, responsible for what is perhaps the company’s most culturally significant IP, The Last of Us. Despite this, Naughty Dog has been more or less dormant for this entire console generation, only releasing remasters of both Last of Us games and Uncharted 4. Of course, studio leader Neil Druckmann also briefly pivoted to the silver screen, working as a showrunner on the Last of Us TV adaptation.
Taking a look at Naughty Dog’s 2020s portfolio, you’d be forgiven for thinking of it as little more than the “Last of Us studio.” While it’s true that this IP has been a major focus for the developer recently, there hasn’t been any laurel-resting yet: Naughty Dog’s next game will be Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet, its first new property since 2013. That said, we shouldn’t rule out a return to The Last of Us, nor Uncharted, Naughty Dog’s other most recognizable series.
Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet Has a Mystery in Plain Sight
As seen with Naughty Dog’s past franchises like Uncharted, there could be a sign that the studio has big plans for Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet.
Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet Could Come Out in Early 2027
Aside from the fact that we play as a vengeful space bounty hunter called Jordan A. Mun, there’s not much information available about Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet. This will most likely change in 2026, though, as Sony moves through its first-party release and marketing schedule. Saros releases this April, and Marvel’s Wolverine is coming in the fall, so it’s fairly reasonable to assume that Intergalactic will get some sort of trailer, gameplay showcase, or perhaps even a release date before the year is out. After all, Sony’s slate of upcoming first-party titles needs to be repopulated, and the longer Naughty Dog goes without touching on Intergalactic, the less likely it is for hype to build. This isn’t GTA 6—Naughty Dog can’t simply not show players Intergalactic for several years and expect interest to be retained.
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Intergalactic has reportedly been in development since 2020, starting just after the release of The Last of Us Part 2, so an early-to-mid-2027 release window is plausible. This would track with the aforementioned speculation about showing more of Intergalactic this year.
The only other ‘rumor’ about Intergalactic is that it’s expected to represent a considerable leap forward in visual fidelity and environment design. Naughty Dog has always been ahead of the curve in these respects, and with this being the studio’s first proper PS5 game, developed from the jump with that hardware in mind, the sky (and beyond) could be the limit.
A New Uncharted Game Is Most Likely On the Way
Unsurprisingly, there has been a flurry of different leaks and rumors about Uncharted 5 since the release of Uncharted 4 in 2016. It’s a little surprising that the franchise has been more or less on pause since standalone DLC The Lost Legacy released in 2017, but various industry insiders hint that this isn’t for a lack of trying. According to several sources, including Jason Schreier of Bloomberg, Sony’s Visual Arts Services Group, which is typically utilized as a support studio, planned to lead an Uncharted 1 remake some years ago, but the team eventually pivoted to The Last of Us Part 1 (the 2021 remake of the first Last of Us).
Visual Arts Services Group was reportedly removed from The Last of Us Part 1 after the departure of several studio leaders.
There’s plenty of evidence for this remake’s existence, including comments from former VASG head Michael Mumbauer about remakes he was “chasing” during his time with Sony, as well as game files referencing Uncharted 1 assets in The Last of Us 2, which is built on a completely different engine. All of this is to say that, despite VASG being taken off the Uncharted remake project, it could very well still be in development somewhere in Sony’s complex tangle of subsidiaries. Such a game has a strong chance to do quite well, considering how dated the first Uncharted is, but it wouldn’t exactly be the triumphant return most fans have been hoping for.
Rumors About an Actual ‘Uncharted 5’ Have Floated Around as Well
The same Bloomberg report that revealed VASG’s involvement in an Uncharted remake also claims that Bend Studio was initially put on an all-new Uncharted project after Days Gone was released; specifically, Bend split into two teams, with one working on this new Uncharted game and the other on the canceled Last of Us multiplayer game. But as of 2021, Bend was reportedly taken off the Uncharted title at the request of studio management, who wanted to shift to their own, original project. And as of 2023, The Last of Us multiplayer game has been canceled.
This wouldn’t have been Bend Studios’ first brush with Uncharted, as the studio had previously released Uncharted: Golden Abyss, a fairly impressive spin-off for the PlayStation Vita, in 2011.
There’s also the activity of Shaun Escayg to consider, a Naughty Dog developer whose last role was as director of Uncharted: The Lost Legacy. He left the studio in 2018, but returned in 2021, and it’s not clear what he’s currently working on. Naturally, it was speculated that he was assigned to the next Uncharted game given his previous directorial role. Speculation intensified when Escayg shared a photo of Fort George in Trinidad on Instagram, with the caption “Research…” It’s hard to imagine what Naughty Dog property he could be “researching” in such an historic location, if not Uncharted.
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Other miscellaneous leaks include a 2022 LinkedIn post from a Naughty Dog recruiter, wherein she references the “legacy of Uncharted,” and a Sony job listing, also in 2022, for a role working on a “high visibility” Naughty Dog project. There are also comments from several sources, including former The Last of Us multiplayer director Vinit Agarwal, about Naughty Dog working on at least two single-player games simultaneously. This leaves the door open for at least one new Naughty Dog game in addition to Intergalactic, and according to up-and-coming leaker Alir, this is “indeed an Uncharted game.”
Last of Us 3 Might Also Be in Development
When it comes to The Last of Us 3, essentially all we have to go on are the enigmatic and contradictory statements from series creator Neil Druckmann. For instance, in 2024, he said that he had a “concept” for a third game in The Last of Us world, but then just a year later, he told Variety this: “I guess the only thing I would say is don’t bet on there being more of Last of Us. This could be it.” He would go on to clarify these comments, saying, “For there to be another [game], another thing, another project, so many stars have to align, so I can’t guarantee it.”
But reading between the lines a little bit, The Last of Us 3 seems much more likely than Druckmann is letting on. There are three major statements worth digging into:
- In September 2025, Druckmann posted a photo of The Last of Us TV show. In the caption, he wrote, “Can’t wait to give y’all more [The Last of Us] updates when the time is right.”
- In a 2025 interview with Variety, Druckmann said he was working on “various Last of Us things,” aside from the show.
- In March 2026, Druckmann posted photos of early sketches for the first Last of Us, saying this in the caption: “Been a wild journey. Grateful for every part of it, especially the few stops that remain on the road ahead.”
What’s important to note here is that Druckmann departed the Last of Us show after the second season, which was released before all three of these statements. So, any future Last of Us “projects” Druckmann refers to are probably not connected to the HBO series. Even if we assume that he is referring to the TV show with the above statements (he has mentioned that he is still “shepherding” the series from afar), the recent comment about a “few stops that remain on the road ahead” raises eyebrows, as The Last of Us’ next season is commonly believed to be its final one. And if that’s not enough, there’s the 2025 Variety interview where Druckmann explicitly states that he’s working on Last of Us “things” other than the show.
There’s no real strategic advantage to outright confirming The Last of Us 3 at this point. Naughty Dog still has to market and ship Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet, so there’s no sense in potentially distracting from the new IP with the return of the old one. If I had to guess, I would say that Druckmann probably wants to avoid rampant speculation and theorizing (so much for that) before there’s actually something to show for TLOU3, like a trailer. For now, we’ll just have to wait until “the time is right,” as he says.
