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What's going on with Naughty Dog?

Will Naughty Dog Show Up At the Video Game Awards?

  • Yes, but with Cross Gen Factions and TLOU Remake.

    Votes: 55 21.1%
  • No. Neil Drunckmann has run the studio to the ground.

    Votes: 125 47.9%
  • Yes. Next Gen IP teaser, Next gen TLOU remake trailer, Next gen Factions. Neil's masterplan.

    Votes: 53 20.3%
  • No. Topher’s Choice.

    Votes: 28 10.7%

  • Total voters
    261
if they never released another game i wouldn't mind a bit. lost any interest in them after TLOU2. imo druckmann should be booted out and Sony should force them to make something new that isn't TLOU or Uncharted. the last time they made a game that wasn't either those was 2005....when the playstation TWO was out.
 

J3nga

Member
and THAT future game
lW7c8EA.jpg

So probably working on a new IP.
 
and THAT future game
lW7c8EA.jpg

So probably working on a new IP.

Any chance this could be a reference to the Last of Us 1 remake since it was leaked?

I'm not a fan of The Last of Us, not an issue with the games per se but I never really got stuck into the games although my brother loves them.

I think it's very likely Sony will release a "Directors Cut" of Last of Us 2, it's a huge opportunity for them to capitalise on, especially with a game as popular as that, I already can imagine things like instant load times, higher resolutions plus 60 FPS, support for haptics and 3D would give the game a enormous uplift, it's still arguably one of the best games of the past generation from a technical standpoint.
 

jakinov

Member
This studio has been one of the most productive studios in the business. They are by no means as bad as studios that take 5-7 years to make a game. From 2007 to 2013, they released four games in two year intervals. From 2016 to 2020, they released 3 games in 4 years. Even Uncharted which was in development hell was released in just 3 years, and they turned around and released an 8 hour Lost Legacy in just one year. TLOU 2 despite all its delays still launched roughly 2.5 years after Lost Legacy.

So why is it that 1.5 years since their last game we haven't seen anything from them? No new reveals. No TLOU remaster like they did on PS4. No Left Behind style DLC. 6 months after they launched Uncharted 4, they revealed Lost Legacy at PSX. We are now 18 months since TLOU2 and nothing. They even had that 1080p 60 fps teaser for Uncharted 4 ready in one year back at E3 2014 while they were working on Left Behind and TLOU PS4 remaster. There is a chance they might have something at the VGAs so fingers crossed for that.

Again, this is a VERY productive studio so they are held to a higher standard than say Guerrilla Games, Rockstar or 343i who produce one game every 5 years. 1.5 years is a long time for them to not reveal, let alone release anything. For example, I am very disappointed that they did not release a PS5 sku for TLOU2. Game plays amazing at 60 fps, but it wouldve been great to get the instant loading upgrades from a dedicated PS5 port. The combat encounters take almost a minute to load on the PS5 which makes replayablity a chore since the main campaign is paced so poorly. Having a dedicated PS5 port wouldve also allowed for a far higher resolution, framerate and character model upgrades they were able to include a PS4 port of TLOU. That too in just under a year despite the difficulty of porting the game from a Cell processor based engine.

Besides, what can we expect at the VGA anyway? The Last of Us remake? Factions? Both of them are likely cross gen so it's not like they will blow us away. Is Naughty Dog going to become a 1 game every 5 years studio or can they be productive like they were in the 2010s when they released 7 games in 10 years.
It takes way longer to make games nowdays. It's not about being bad or good. Some projects have different scope than others. Very interatative sequels are faster to make. Lost Legacy and The last of Us remastered doesn't take a lot of development power to do. You also don't need to waste a lot of time pre-production phases and have to do a lot of work designin and creating new things. I wouldn't be looking at anything in 2007-2013 as a baseline. Everyone was releasing a bunch of games during that generation. You had 3 fable games + other failed projects, 4 gears of war games, 4 halo games, 3 resitance games + fuse + like 4 ratchet games but had much less of that during PS4 gen.


Naughty Dog is supposed to be a two-team company working on multiuple projects at the same time but they said they failed to do that and that everyone just ends up mainly working on the same game. Insomniac is the one that actually succesfully does that because they have 3 teams and release at least something decently sized every year or two. However, Naughty Dog does overlap pre-production while working on their main project which can shave off months or a year of development. e.g. Last of Us 2 pre-production while fininshing Uncharted 4 so when Uncharted 4 people are done they just start on Last of Us 2.

Unless they are working on something small like DLC or just want to tease a concept that they are firm on you probably won't see anything any time soon.
 

J3nga

Member
Any chance this could be a reference to the Last of Us 1 remake since it was leaked?

I'm not a fan of The Last of Us, not an issue with the games per se but I never really got stuck into the games although my brother loves them.

I think it's very likely Sony will release a "Directors Cut" of Last of Us 2, it's a huge opportunity for them to capitalise on, especially with a game as popular as that, I already can imagine things like instant load times, higher resolutions plus 60 FPS, support for haptics and 3D would give the game a enormous uplift, it's still arguably one of the best games of the past generation from a technical standpoint.
I don't think so.
 

Draugoth

Gold Member
The multiplayer has very likely been delayed.

Naughty Dog is wimming in money with the HBO series and TLOUS PT II sales numbers
 

SlimySnake

Flashless at the Golden Globes
It takes way longer to make games nowdays. It's not about being bad or good. Some projects have different scope than others. Very interatative sequels are faster to make. Lost Legacy and The last of Us remastered doesn't take a lot of development power to do. You also don't need to waste a lot of time pre-production phases and have to do a lot of work designin and creating new things. I wouldn't be looking at anything in 2007-2013 as a baseline. Everyone was releasing a bunch of games during that generation. You had 3 fable games + other failed projects, 4 gears of war games, 4 halo games, 3 resitance games + fuse + like 4 ratchet games but had much less of that during PS4 gen.


Naughty Dog is supposed to be a two-team company working on multiuple projects at the same time but they said they failed to do that and that everyone just ends up mainly working on the same game. Insomniac is the one that actually succesfully does that because they have 3 teams and release at least something decently sized every year or two. However, Naughty Dog does overlap pre-production while working on their main project which can shave off months or a year of development. e.g. Last of Us 2 pre-production while fininshing Uncharted 4 so when Uncharted 4 people are done they just start on Last of Us 2.

Unless they are working on something small like DLC or just want to tease a concept that they are firm on you probably won't see anything any time soon.
I understand all that. Thats why I brought up the Last of Us Remaster, Lost Legacy and Left Behind DLC. It seems ND didnt have anything similar lined up after shipping TLOU2. I wouldve expected at least a TLOU2 PS5 SKU. Very odd from a traditionally productive studio.
 
I'd never characterize them as one of the most productive; personally. Since PS3, they've basically made the same game over and over again, in terms of gameplay design. Third person shooters with light stealth, crouch / cover mechanics, and limited platforming.

I'd say they're leaders in the industry in terms of graphics, but not productivity. They just make the same thing, and put a lot of time into art and graphics. Honestly, Uncharted 4 and The Last of Us 2 look like they're probably built using a ton of the same tech and engine work. Uncharted even has a lot of similar art design with run down, abandoned buildings overgrown in moss in half the game.
 

Aenima

Member
They last game that got awarded more than 300 GOTY awards just came out last year. (flex) I didnt knew ppl want NaughtyDog to become the next Ubi💩 with anual 💩.

Would love to see gameplay for they multiplayer TLOU game, and an announcement for they new IP on the VGA, but probably we will only gonna see the multiplayer one.
 

Bkdk

Member
They will promise real diversity for their product line up and co develop project eve. Hot girls will not be excluded any longer. There’s a reason why sony allow it to launch a trailer on their online event.
 

Lognor

Banned
Was tlou2 multiplayer a real thing or was that just bullshit? It shouldn't be taking this long if it's real
 

SlimySnake

Flashless at the Golden Globes
I'd never characterize them as one of the most productive; personally. Since PS3, they've basically made the same game over and over again, in terms of gameplay design. Third person shooters with light stealth, crouch / cover mechanics, and limited platforming.

I'd say they're leaders in the industry in terms of graphics, but not productivity. They just make the same thing, and put a lot of time into art and graphics. Honestly, Uncharted 4 and The Last of Us 2 look like they're probably built using a ton of the same tech and engine work. Uncharted even has a lot of similar art design with run down, abandoned buildings overgrown in moss in half the game.
Productivity just means how many games they are releasing. Not how different their games are. Rockstar released just one game last year. Santa Monica, Sony Bend, Quantic Dream and PD all released 1. ND 3. Who is more productive?

I also dont see how they are making the same game. Uncharted and TLOU are two different genre. Would you say Grand Theft Auto and TLOU are the same genre because they use the same third person perspective? If anything, they are one of few studios who branch out. In the last three gens they have gone from Jak And Daxter to Uncharted to TLOU. All third person but different genres. SSM has been making GOW since the PS2 era. Rockstar has been making the same open world genre since 2001. Infinity Ward has been making the same shooter since 2003.

If their next game is a hack n slash or a scifi shooter, that would be great, but it would be continuing their shift from going into different genres.
 

yurinka

Member
I think their next announcements will be the PS5 (and PC?) TLOU remake and (crossgen) Factions 2, probably bundled with TLOU2 in a "TLOU Director's Cut" (which would have a PS5 native version of TLOU2).

It's too soon for their new IP, they still have to promote and release these two projects, and they may also still have under development -if not cancelled- the Uncharted spinoff they were making with the help of Bend Studio. And pretty likely Factions 2 will be a GaaS, and in that case they would keep a team there adding more stuff during at least a year or two after launch.

I think we won't get Sony announcements at The Game Awards, they will prefer to keep them for their own events. If Sony shows something there it may be another God of War, Horizon 2 or GT7 trailer.
 
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Jaybe

Member
TLOU multiplayer next, F2P GaaS MTX.

I’m hoping they announce the next IP within 6 months if it’s release. No long build up and hype trailing off.
 

Pedro Motta

Member
This studio has been one of the most productive studios in the business. They are by no means as bad as studios that take 5-7 years to make a game. From 2007 to 2013, they released four games in two year intervals. From 2016 to 2020, they released 3 games in 4 years. Even Uncharted which was in development hell was released in just 3 years, and they turned around and released an 8 hour Lost Legacy in just one year. TLOU 2 despite all its delays still launched roughly 2.5 years after Lost Legacy.

So why is it that 1.5 years since their last game we haven't seen anything from them? No new reveals. No TLOU remaster like they did on PS4. No Left Behind style DLC. 6 months after they launched Uncharted 4, they revealed Lost Legacy at PSX. We are now 18 months since TLOU2 and nothing. They even had that 1080p 60 fps teaser for Uncharted 4 ready in one year back at E3 2014 while they were working on Left Behind and TLOU PS4 remaster. There is a chance they might have something at the VGAs so fingers crossed for that.

Again, this is a VERY productive studio so they are held to a higher standard than say Guerrilla Games, Rockstar or 343i who produce one game every 5 years. 1.5 years is a long time for them to not reveal, let alone release anything. For example, I am very disappointed that they did not release a PS5 sku for TLOU2. Game plays amazing at 60 fps, but it wouldve been great to get the instant loading upgrades from a dedicated PS5 port. The combat encounters take almost a minute to load on the PS5 which makes replayablity a chore since the main campaign is paced so poorly. Having a dedicated PS5 port wouldve also allowed for a far higher resolution, framerate and character model upgrades they were able to include a PS4 port of TLOU. That too in just under a year despite the difficulty of porting the game from a Cell processor based engine.

Besides, what can we expect at the VGA anyway? The Last of Us remake? Factions? Both of them are likely cross gen so it's not like they will blow us away. Is Naughty Dog going to become a 1 game every 5 years studio or can they be productive like they were in the 2010s when they released 7 games in 10 years.
Jason Schreier happened.
 

arvfab

Banned
How would you change the ending if you were in charge?

Abby would wear a green armor, Ellie a machine gun with a chainsaw and together they would fight an alien invasion.

Whats funny about my post?

TLOU2 is one of my games of the last generation silly.

Your so triggered that even when I say somethings good you think its bad 😂

I find your sales concern amusing. Same happened with GoW. No numbers for a long time and we know how that turned out.
 

Butch_0451

Member
I'm not a fan of The Last of Us, not an issue with the games per se but I never really got stuck into the games although my brother loves them.

I think it's very likely Sony will release a "Directors Cut" of Last of Us 2, it's a huge opportunity for them to capitalise on, especially with a game as popular as that, I already can imagine things like instant load times, higher resolutions plus 60 FPS, support for haptics and 3D would give the game a enormous uplift, it's still arguably one of the best games of the past generation from a technical standpoint.
As if the “Director” didn’t capitalise enough already.
 
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Astral Dog

Member
More detailed graphics mean more development time,simple as that. on PS3 they released 3 Uncharted games + The Last of Us, on PS4 it was just one Uncharted game, expansion and The Last of Us 2.

There was nothing wrong with the quality released, games just take more time to make, it will be the same on PS5
 

Fake

Member
Neil Drunckmann is too busy on Twitter.

Just becareful about talking bad over TLOUSpart2. Say the legend someone is spamming the report button.
 
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Banjo64

cumsessed
Like whom? And I’m not talking about dlc/expansions, or smaller games, I’m talking about two major games
How far back can I go? It was extremely common in the PS1/N64/PS2 era. Games like the Spyro trilogy, Crash trilogy and the PS2 Ratchet trilogy were fully released within 3 years with a sequel every year.

For more recent stuff Obsidian and Insomniac are the stand out performers.

Obsidian released Stick of Truth in March 2014 and Pillars of Eternity in March 2015. Pillars of Eternity 2 in 2018, The Outer Worlds in 2019.

Insomniac during the PS3/4/5 era have had such an insane output, I won’t list them all, but the highlights:


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WSRzuSc.jpg
 
Productivity just means how many games they are releasing. Not how different their games are. Rockstar released just one game last year. Santa Monica, Sony Bend, Quantic Dream and PD all released 1. ND 3. Who is more productive?

I also dont see how they are making the same game. Uncharted and TLOU are two different genre. Would you say Grand Theft Auto and TLOU are the same genre because they use the same third person perspective? If anything, they are one of few studios who branch out. In the last three gens they have gone from Jak And Daxter to Uncharted to TLOU. All third person but different genres. SSM has been making GOW since the PS2 era. Rockstar has been making the same open world genre since 2001. Infinity Ward has been making the same shooter since 2003.

If their next game is a hack n slash or a scifi shooter, that would be great, but it would be continuing their shift from going into different genres.
I mean, Uncharted and The Last of Us are basically identical in terms of gameplay. One just has a different tone in terms of story. They basically have the same style of graphics too.

To me, it factors into my personal rating of productivity because I think they're probably reusing tons and tons of code since not that much is honestly changing aside from focusing on pushing graphics tech. I don't care how many Assassin's Creed games get cranked out either if they are just doing the same thing over and over.
 

Ellery

Member
More detailed graphics mean more development time,simple as that. on PS3 they released 3 Uncharted games + The Last of Us, on PS4 it was just one Uncharted game, expansion and The Last of Us 2.

There was nothing wrong with the quality released, games just take more time to make, it will be the same on PS5

True, but a big focus of the PS5, at least according to Cerny, was that games are being easier to develop and Playstation offers a lot of tools to help them I think.

But that being said like you said game development takes a very long time now for games of that scope that I don't think we will see 3 big new AAA games for the PS5 from Naughty Dog.
 

Astral Dog

Member
True, but a big focus of the PS5, at least according to Cerny, was that games are being easier to develop and Playstation offers a lot of tools to help them I think.

But that being said like you said game development takes a very long time now for games of that scope that I don't think we will see 3 big new AAA games for the PS5 from Naughty Dog.
We have yet to see if thats just PR talk to be honest, it may be easier with the new tools, but i doubt will make much of a difference in actual time and games released. who knows 🤭
 

Aenima

Member
True, but a big focus of the PS5, at least according to Cerny, was that games are being easier to develop and Playstation offers a lot of tools to help them I think.

But that being said like you said game development takes a very long time now for games of that scope that I don't think we will see 3 big new AAA games for the PS5 from Naughty Dog.
Being easier to develop dosent mean devs will not spend more time working on they games. Just means they will spend less time figuring out how to make the game run on the console.
 

Sosokrates

Report me if I continue to console war
Abby would wear a green armor, Ellie a machine gun with a chainsaw and together they would fight an alien invasion.



I find your sales concern amusing. Same happened with GoW. No numbers for a long time and we know how that turned out.

Good point, I wish this was mentioned in all the internet chatter going on about 4million sales. So its not concern, just repeating what others have said.

But personally I would be very surprised that TLOU2 sold less then GOW, its the better game.
 

DJTaurus

Member
Hyped days are over for them. Even most PS fans care more on what insomniac or Cory barloq will introduce next. Nobody cares on Abby’s next adventure….
 
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SlimySnake

Flashless at the Golden Globes
Greatness takes time. Whenever they’re ready to show what they have cooking we can lock it in for looking a generation ahead of everything else.
They did this with the Uncharted 4 teaser. it looked unlike anything we had seen before. Lets hope it's sooner rather than later. Fingers crossed for VGAs

OP i feel you, we been spoiled by that Spiderman/Ratchet studio over delivering.
Actually, Like i pointed out in the OP, ND has been just as productive. Hence, the expectation that they shouldve had something ready by now.

I mean, Uncharted and The Last of Us are basically identical in terms of gameplay. One just has a different tone in terms of story. They basically have the same style of graphics too.
The combat engine is completely different. Enemy types are different. TLOU is far more methodical than Uncharted. U4 borrowed some of the stealth elements from TLOU, but there is no crafting, no melee weapons, no boss fights, no zombies, no upgrade system. If TLOU and Uncharted are identical than so is Halo and CoD. Or CoD and Fallout.

Hyped days are over for them. Even most PS fans care more on what insomniac or Cory barloq will introduce next.
Which is funny because Cory has delivered one game since GoW2 in 2007 to Neil's 4 critically aclaimed masterpieces (2009 U2, 2013 TLOU, 2016 U4 and 2020 TLOU2). Not to mention the fact that he made the decision to make GOW2 last gen not once but twice. I guess you are only as good as your last game.
 
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The combat engine is completely different. Enemy types are different. TLOU is far more methodical than Uncharted. U4 borrowed some of the stealth elements from TLOU, but there is no crafting, no melee weapons, no boss fights, no zombies, no upgrade system. If TLOU and Uncharted are identical than so is Halo and CoD. Or CoD and Fallout.
Call of Duty and Fallout aren't even in the same game engine, when all Naughty Dog games are. You can disagree with me if you want, but you're definitely exaggerating.

Crafting is a little menu with some UI design. It's nothing.
 
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SlimySnake

Flashless at the Golden Globes
Call of Duty and Fallout aren't even in the same game engine, when all Naughty Dog games are. You can disagree with me if you want, but you're definitely exaggerating.

Crafting is a little menu with some UI design. It's nothing.
I dont understand this logic. Why does something need to be on a different engine to be different? Mortal Kombat is on Unreal Engine. Days Gone is on Unreal Engine. Are they the same game because they are on the same engine?

you keep ignoring entirely different genres just because they share the same third person perspective or the same engine or same trees. As if including some foliage and trees somehow means creating a post apocalyptic universe is the same as creating a modern world with some tombs and lost civilizations.

I mean saying TLOU and Uncharted are the same game is like saying RE2make and Uncharted are the same game. I am not exaggerating, I am poking holes in your logic.

And now crafting is apparently just a UI change. You seem to be intent on diminishing everything ND does different. They are not productive because they make third person games. They dont make games in different genres because they use the same engine. They make the same game over and over because I choose to ignore entirely new features as minor UI design changes. What's funny is that they rebuilt their entire animation system for TLOU2 to implement industry leading motion matching that was not in their previous games but you will probably dismiss that too because they added it to their existing engine instead of creating a new one.
 

Lupin25

Member
Judging by Sony’s current time line with this generation moving slower, they can remain patient.

TLOU2 just released last year and next year Sony’s slate is fully covered with titles like Sifu, GT7, GOW, HFW, Forspoken, Little Devil Inside, FFXVI, SOP: FFO, 3rd parties, etc.

I don’t see Naughty Dog dropping any time soon, at least until 2023 and we’re past this phase.
 

Yoboman

Member
I thought Factions 2 would be a game 6 months to a year at most after TLOU2

Now we are a year and a half and it doesn't sound like it's anywhere close. Who is going to care about a PS4 game in 2023 or whenever it comes out?

Frankly I could care less if they abandoned it and had just moved on to a new single player IP for next gen exclusive. That's what would get me hyped up
 
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