• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

Where do Naughty Dog go with their next IP?

What will ND do next?

  • Uncharted (new protagonist)

  • Uncharted (Drake returns)

  • The Last of Us III

  • Jak 4 (Traditional sequel)

  • Sci-Fi IP (New)

  • Unknown/unannounced


Results are only viewable after voting.

cormack12

Gold Member
So, since 2007 Naughty Dog became the 'Uncharted studio', then made a divergence with TLoU. Here is a list of all their titles from that era (disregarding remasters by Bluepoint/Mass Media).

Uncharted: Drake's Fortune
Uncharted II: Among Thieves
Uncharted III: Drake's Deception
Uncharted IV: A Thief's End
Uncharted: Lost Legacy


The Last of Us
The Last of Us: Left Behind
The Last of Us II (To be shipped)


They also have a retired/dormant franchise

Dormant Franchise
Jak, currently at iteration 3



Neil Druckmann has pretty much said Nathan's story is over - I don't see this decision being rolled back:


"This is the last mark we get to make with Nathan Drake," said Naughty Dog's Neil Druckmann as he introduced gameplay for the latest and seemingly final Uncharted title, A Thief's End.

"As a team, this game felt really personal and special to us because it's the last story we get to tell with Nathan Drake," Druckmann told me later. "We wanted to make sure we get it right. Everyone's trying to cram everything into this game. Before we knew it, it got so ambitious that we're like, 'We're not going to hit our 2015 date, clearly,' but we didn't want to cut anything because it all felt important for this story. It all felt important for Nathan Drake leaving his mark. It was 'go big or go home' kind of mentality."


There is the option to carry on the Uncharted series with other protagonists, and they did this to an extent with Lost Legacy.

  • Drakes Daughter: is one option but doesn't it completely negate the entire message of Drake finally learning his lesson and settling down? He'd be expected to pass this on to his daughter surely. And then there's always the question mark of if she gets into trouble, she has two kickass parents who can rock up and save the day. You could use the trope of kidnap kid to force Drake to work but that would be kinda cheap right?
  • Chloe/Nadine: I really liked Lost Legacy, and both these protagonist's. We already have the connection with Chloe from UC2/3 and she's actually a kickass character. With the uncertainty of Tomb Raider as well, it fills that gap.


Jak 4 possibility?

I think there's a reason this hasn't been revisited. I simply feel ND have outgrown this franchise and after three titles they're happy to see it retired. I don't expect them to go back to Jak at all. Maybe develop it - see Savage Starlight below.


The Last of Us
Obviously the ending of TLoU is not known and let's avoid speculating. So let's assume it has an 'open' ending for the purpsoe of the thread. I doubt the studio will want to revisit that world so soon again. And it will probably need a bit of time to breathe.


The job listings page doesn't really give anything away but the studio have hinted Savage Starlight was parked in their artbook - it sounded like an iteration on Jak but more grown up and aligned with their current studio titles.

“We explored the idea of doing a science fiction game following the Jak and Daxter franchise, complete with androids, robots, and futuristic weapons. The sci-fi game was going to be centered around a city that had been built up around a giant hole in the ground. No one knew exactly what created the hole, but the adventure would have the player exploring the depths.”


However, it seemd to be Straleys baby, and with him now leaving the studio - is the appetite there?

“Yeah, I’m not gonna drop hints to what it is, because who knows, it might actually happen. There’s one image in there that’s still in the back of my mind that I’d like to make a game out of. There’s one image. I’m just letting you know that it’s very possible. There’s still a story, there’s some great game ideas, there’s a lot of really cool stuff in the thing, like I think it’d be really cool to see if Naughty Dog could do this game.


Concepts from Sci-Fi game

Naughty-Dog-Cancelled-Sci-Fi-Game-Savage-Starlight-2-768x1024.jpg
Naughty-Dog-Cancelled-Sci-Fi-Game-Savage-Starlight-5-1024x768.jpg

Naughty-Dog-Cancelled-Sci-Fi-Game-Savage-Starlight-10-1024x768.jpg
Naughty-Dog-Cancelled-Sci-Fi-Game-Savage-Starlight-9-768x1024.jpg



So what are the bets GAF??
 
Last edited:

Hostile_18

Banned
I just love Uncharted and Last of us so much I'd rather they alternate between them all generation to be honest.

Maybe a smaller or second team to do a new IP as despite what I want I wouldn't want to stifle their creativity.
 
They like making at least 3 games in the series before starting something new (Crash on ps1, Jak & Dexter on ps2, Uncharted on ps3 and ps4).

So I would guess they are going to make one more tLoU before new IP
 
It would be cool if they did some medevil, lore heavy action rpg. In the vein of souls bourne but more action less rpg. I guess just some rpg elements.
 

01011001

Banned
over the shoulder shooting, hiding in bushes, walking talking for 5min at a time, pointless because danger-less climbing and semi scripted platforming.

I think they literally forgot to make anything else lol
 

Kagero

Member
Space Opera or horror Sci-Fi ,à la Dead Space/Event Horizon would be good.


EDIT: Actually I would love a third person cyber punk game from them. More Battle Angel, and less like Blade Runner would be super cool.
 

Rolla

Banned
Given the fact that they were allowed to abandon the UC franchise, I'd say wherever they choose.
 
Last edited:
I would love to see a new Jak or a similar game from ND. It would probably be good for them to reset from the TLOU's depressing world to a fun world. It would be good for the team's soul.
 

Doom85

Member
I can't say TLOU Part 3 as I've not played 2 so it depends on how that one ends.

I only played Uncharted 1. I've heard 4 wraps up Nathan's story, but does LL likewise wrap up Chloe and Nadine's story? A sequel could always bring them back unless LL was also pretty conclusive with them.

I'll vote for Jak 4, though again I've only played Jak 1 so I'm not sure if Jak 3 felt like a proper ending. I can't really vote sci-fi or new IP because with any studio even if I love most of their work it doesn't necessarily mean I'll enjoy something completely different by them. At least when it comes to voting for a sequel, I have a general idea of what I'm getting barring some radical overhaul to the gameplay or such.
 

Vick

Gold Member
There is the option to carry on the Uncharted series with other protagonists, and they did this to an extent with Lost Legacy.

  • Drakes Daughter: is one option but doesn't it completely negate the entire message of Drake finally learning his lesson and settling down? He'd be expected to pass this on to his daughter surely. And then there's always the question mark of if she gets into trouble, she has two kickass parents who can rock up and save the day. You could use the trope of kidnap kid to force Drake to work but that would be kinda cheap right?
  • Chloe/Nadine: I really liked Lost Legacy, and both these protagonist's. We already have the connection with Chloe from UC2/3 and she's actually a kickass character. With the uncertainty of Tomb Raider as well, it fills that gap.

Ew, leave Uncharted alone if that’s the case. Potential for this game series is infinite but U4 shown that these games need tons and tons of gunplay and melee and all kind of action craziness and tight pacing to be as fun as the previous entries and none of these characters would fit properly. Just give the IP to BEND or that new studio and let us play with young Nate and Sully, maybe introduce another badass feminine “Bond girl” like Rika or Chloe and give us a masterpiece.
Not hard, just literally use Uncharted 4 god tier mechanics Straley created, bring back U3 super precise and satisfying granade throwback and let us USE all of them in the campaign with PS5 graphics.

Hopefully no one would complain.

“Uncharted series misogynistic again”, “boring white male protagonist”, “no gay/trans/gender fluid representation to be seen”, “Drake’s a mass murderer”, “sexualized females”, “white power fantasy”, “just arrest those bigot racist fascist fuckers!!!”
 

Woggleman

Member
If I were Neil I would actually make a woke game just to troll people but in all seriousness why not a western? RDR can't be the only good western video game franchise.
 
uncharted the daughter with nathan as sidekick like scully


Something like this actually would be cool if ND was not such woke trash these days. I remember a time when we could play as female characters in video games, and not have to be preached at or worry about who it was offending.
 
Top Bottom