Naughty Dog Confirms Work on 'Brand-New Single Player Game'

Naughty Dog

By J Brodie Shirey

Published May 24, 2024

Thread

Naughty Dog

Highlights

Naughty Dog is reportedly developing a new single-player game, aiming to redefine gaming with Neil Druckmann at the helm.
Recent job listings suggest Naughty Dog is shifting focus from remakes and remasters to a completely new game experience for fans.
Speculation swirls around whether the new project will be an adaptation of an existing IP, a sequel, or something entirely fresh.

Recent job listings at Naughty Dog seem to confirm that the studio is working on a brand-new, single-player game. Naughty Dog has had a long career releasing hit titles and franchises for PlayStation consoles, even before it was formally acquired by Sony back in 2001. It started with colorful platformers like the first few Crash Bandicoot games and the Jak and Daxter series before moving on to the Uncharted franchise in the late 2000s. In more recent years, Naughty Dog has been known for The Last of Us, an action-adventure series set in a post-apocalyptic world that was recently adapted into a hit live-action television show.

Earlier this week, Naughty Dog co-president and head of creative Neil Druckmann teased his studio’s next big project during an interview with Sony, saying that it will aim to redefine gaming and bridge the gap between seasoned gamers and non-gaming audiences. While he shied away from giving out too many details about this mystery project, he considers it to be one of his “dream projects” and left open the possibility of it being the start of a new franchise or an adaptation of an existing IP.

naughty-dog-at-crossroads-after-last-of-us-3-game-rant

After The Last of Us 3, Naughty Dog Will Be at a Crossroads

The Last of Us 3 has a whole lot of ground to cover, and once that is done, Naughty Dog's franchise needs to make a big decision.

Naughty Dog has since posted several job listings, including one for an experienced Environment Concept Artist to help create in-game environments and props in a future Naughty Dog project. The summary of this job listing claims that Naughty Dog is currently “busy at the kennel working on a brand-new single-player game,” a line that has been featured in other recent job offers. The summary itself is similar to those of past postings, except that before this week it described Naughty Dog as working on PC ports of The Last of Us rather than a new project.

Naughty Dog Job Posting Seemingly Confirms New Project

Sure enough, most of Naughty Dog’s past few releases have been either updates or PC ports of existing titles. The studio’s last completely new game was The Last of Us Part 2, which was released in 2020. 2022 saw Naughty Dog release Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves Collection, an updated compilation of Uncharted 4: A Thief's End and Uncharted: The Lost Legacy for PS5 and PC, and The Last of Us Part 1, a PS5 remake of the 2013 original that was later ported to PC a year later. January saw The Last of Us Part 2 Remastered launch on PS5, with rumors of a PC port coming later this year.

All of these remakes and remasters of past games make news of Naughty Dog developing a brand-new title all the sweeter for fans, though there is currently very little to go on regarding what it is. In 2021, Neil Druckmann said that he would like to make a Punisher or Ghost Rider game for Marvel, but the jury is still out on Naughty Dog’s next big project being an adaptation of an existing IP, a sequel to one of the studio’s many franchises, or something entirely new.