Naughty Canine has been engaged on its subsequent undertaking for some time now, with studio head Neil Druckmann confirming growth on a brand new recreation a number of instances. The Uncharted maker’s final unique launch was The Final of Us Half 2 in 2020, following which the studio has launched a remastered assortment of two Uncharted video games, a remake of 2013’s The Final of Us and a remaster of the sequel. Naughty Canine has not revealed any particulars about its subsequent recreation, however an business insider has teased that the unannounced undertaking would favour participant freedom.
‘Participant Freedom’ in Naughty Canine’s Subsequent Recreation
The knowledge comes from Ben Hanson (as noticed by ResetEra), founding father of unbiased video games media outlet MinnMax, who claimed final week that Naughty Canine’s long-awaited unannounced undertaking will doubtless characteristic “lots of participant freedom.” Whereas Hanson didn’t broaden on what that participant freedom would translate to by way of gameplay, his assertion suggests the Sony-owned studio’s subsequent recreation might be a departure from its signature narrative-focused, hyper-linear titles that normally supply a really on-rails expertise to gamers.
In response to Hanson, a supply “very within the know, who labored on the sport,” instructed him that Naughty Canine’s subsequent recreation would take gamers without warning. The supply in contrast the in-development title with one other current recreation that options “lots of participant freedom,” Hansen revealed on The MinnMax Present final week.
Neil Druckmann on Naughty Canine’s Unannounced Recreation
Whereas that is little or no element to get a transparent concept about what Naughty Canine is engaged on, the declare does line up with Druckmann’s latest views on the sort of video games which have him of late. In a dialog with The Washington Publish in January 2023, the Naughty Canine co-president had stated that he was drawn in direction of video games that instructed their tales by means of atmosphere, exploration and gameplay, somewhat than by means of a conventional linear narrative.
“I am extra not too long ago intrigued by stuff like Elden Ring and Inside that does not rely as a lot on conventional narrative to inform its story and is–I feel there’s some–some of one of the best storytelling in “The Final of Us,” lots of it’s within the cinematics. However lots of it’s in gameplay and shifting round an area and understanding a historical past of an area by simply it and inspecting it,” Druckmann had stated.
In the identical interplay, Druckmann had additionally stated that Naughty Canine was engaged on a number of new tasks, which might be “just a little bit totally different” from the video games the studio had labored on earlier than. “I am actually intrigued, once more, by no means resting on our laurels and attempting one thing just a little bit new, just a little bit totally different that not everybody goes to love, however that is okay. And, once more, the stuff that we’re engaged on now, I might inform you that the groups are very excited by the totally different tasks we now have at Naughty Canine,” he had stated.
Naughty Canine’s Subsequent Mission, The Final of Us On-line and ‘Half 3’
Each Druckmann and Naughty Canine have remained evasive on the small print in regards to the studio’s ongoing tasks. Druckmann, in a documentary in regards to the making of The Final of Us Half 2, had stated that he had an concept for a 3rd recreation within the sequence. However Naughty Canine’s subsequent recreation might not be The Final of Us Half 3. In an interview with Kinda Humorous final 12 months, Druckmann had stated the studio’s subsequent undertaking was finalised, whereas acknowledging that followers would anticipate a 3rd The Final of Us recreation.
“I do know the followers really need The Final of Us Half 3, I hear about it on a regular basis,” Druckmann had stated within the interview. “All I can say is that — look, we’re already into our subsequent undertaking. So, the choice has already been made. I am unable to say what it’s, however that is the method we went by means of. There was lots of consideration of various issues, and we picked the factor we have been essentially the most excited for.”
For a very long time, Naughty Canine had been engaged on a multiplayer recreation set on the earth of The Final of Us, with the studio even releasing idea artwork from the undertaking. In December 2023, nonetheless, the Uncharted developer introduced that the multiplayer title had been cancelled. In response to the developer, ‘The Final of Us On-line’ would have required a long-term dedication to push out common updates, primarily turning Naughty Canine right into a live-service studio. The corporate as a substitute determined to desert the path it was headed and stick to creating what it was good at — single-player titles.
Regardless of a number of teasers and studies about Naughty Canine’s unannounced tasks, the studio and its mother or father Sony have saved its subsequent recreation tightly below wraps. Naughty Canine, one in every of Sony’s most prestigious recreation studios, is but to launch an unique recreation on the PS5, 4 years after the console launched.