If you can believe it, it’s been almost ten years since Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End was released, and close to nine years since Uncharted: The Lost Legacy hit store shelves. Naturally, even though Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End ended the mainline games in a rather conclusive way, fans have been clamoring for Naughty Dog to return to the series, and it seems one of the studio’s creative directors is teasing exactly that.
Earlier today, a six-week-old Instagram post from Shaun Escayg, who directed Uncharted: The Lost Legacy and served as creative director for The Last of Us: Part I, started making the rounds online. I’ll warn you in advance that the post in question is extremely vague, as it merely features a cannon and a cryptic message from Escayg, which simply states “Research…”
Admittedly, I see why people immediately connected the post to Uncharted. There’s a certain vibe to it that reminds me of the Panama segments of Uncharted 4 which, distance-wise, isn’t that far off, as someone managed to figure out that Escayg’s picture was taken at Fort George in Trinidad and Tobago.
However, the excitement isn’t entirely vibes-based, as Naughty Dog has confirmed several times that they’re currently working on at least one other game alongside Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet. Studio head Neil Druckmann outright stated as much last year, and Vinit Agarwal, the director of the cancelled Naughty Dog project The Last of Us Online, also indicated that the developer was working on two single-player games when he left in 2024.
Of course, it’s also important to keep in mind that Druckmann has teased The Last of Us Part 3 several times over the past year, so there is a small chance that Escayg’s “research” could be related to that project. That being said, I can’t think of any reason why Ellie would be taking a trip to Trinidad and Tobago, so hopefully this just means that Naughty Dog is cooking up both projects simultaneously.
