Highlights
- Naughty Dog has multiple single-player games planned.
- Fans eagerly await details on upcoming projects.
Naughty Dog has big plans for future single-player games. Over a decade ago, game developer Naughty Dog found resounding success with The Last of Us, the story of a hardened smuggler and a loudmouthed teenager crossing a treacherous, post-apocalyptic United States.
Druckmann conceived the idea of Joel and Ellie traversing a desolate United States in college, but never considered the concept to be video game material. In fact, Druckmann originally envisioned it as a graphic novel series. Even after joining Naughty Dog, Druckmann kept the whole thing under wraps. He was instead entrusted with the production of Jak and Daxter, a console-defining franchise of the early 2000s.
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In an interview with the LA Times, Druckmann teased numerous games in Naughty Dog's future, including "multiple single-player projects." As co-president of Naughty Dog, Druckmann has the privilege of fashioning these games after his own visions, particularly since his brainchild (The Last of Us) started out as a graphic novel concept and evolved into a full-fledged franchise. “We create experiences that are steeped in story and character, especially relationships,” he said. “The stories have some sort of philosophical core that everything is going to revolve around and feed into.”
Naughty Dog Has Multiple Single-Player Games in the Works
Aside from The Last of Us, Naughty Dog also worked on Jak and Daxter and Uncharted, an action-adventure franchise running since 2007. Although Naughty Dog can be credited with the creation of many titles for the Apple series 16-bit computer systems from the '80s, the developer's first major franchise hit came with Crash Bandicoot, an ongoing platform game series spanning several decades. In January 2024, Naughty Dog released a remastered version of The Last of Us: Part 2, exclusively for PlayStation 5. Rumors of a third installment have circulated the web since the sequel's release in 2020, but no concrete plans have come to fruition as of yet.
This announcement comes after Naughty Dog ceased development on a multiplayer spin-off of the Last of Us franchise. This decision was not made lightly and although The Last of Us fans may have held a grudge at the time, the news of Naughty Dog's upcoming slate has parted the clouds somewhat. There is no information regarding the single player titles and their premises, but it's only a matter of time before the studio dishes its intentions.
