Naughty Canine has been engaged on its subsequent mission for some time now, with studio head Neil Druckmann confirming growth on a brand new sport a number of occasions. The Uncharted maker’s final authentic 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 sport, however an trade insider has teased that the unannounced mission would favour participant freedom.
‘Participant Freedom’ in Naughty Canine’s Subsequent Recreation
The data 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 mission will probably function “a whole lot of participant freedom.” Whereas Hanson didn’t broaden on what that participant freedom would translate to when it comes to gameplay, his assertion suggests the Sony-owned studio’s subsequent sport could possibly be a departure from its signature narrative-focused, hyper-linear titles that normally provide a really on-rails expertise to gamers.
In accordance with Hanson, a supply “very within the know, who labored on the sport,” advised him that Naughty Canine’s subsequent sport would take gamers unexpectedly. The supply in contrast the in-development title with one other current sport that options “a whole lot of participant freedom,” Hansen revealed on The MinnMax Present final week.
Naughty Canine launch The Final of Us Half 1, a remake of 2013’s The Final of Us, in 2022
Picture Credit score: Sony/ Naughty Canine
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 current views on the type of video games which have him of late. In a dialog with The Washington Put up in January 2023, the Naughty Canine co-president had stated that he was drawn in direction of video games that advised their tales by means of setting, exploration and gameplay, relatively than by means of a conventional linear narrative.
“I am extra just lately 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 the perfect storytelling in “The Final of Us,” a whole lot of it’s within the cinematics. However a whole lot of it’s in gameplay and shifting round an area and understanding a historical past of an area by simply taking a look at 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 “somewhat bit completely 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 somewhat bit new, somewhat bit completely 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 completely different tasks we’ve got at Naughty Canine,” he had stated.
The Final of Us Half 2 featured some participant freedom within the type of a mini open-world stage
Picture Credit score: Sony/ Naughty Canine
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 concerning the studio’s ongoing tasks. Druckmann, in a documentary concerning the making of The Final of Us Half 2, had stated that he had an concept for a 3rd sport within the sequence. However Naughty Canine’s subsequent sport might not be The Final of Us Half 3. In an interview with Kinda Humorous final yr, Druckmann had stated the studio’s subsequent mission was finalised, whereas acknowledging that followers would count on a 3rd The Final of Us sport.
“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 mission. So, the choice has already been made. I can not say what it’s, however that is the method we went by means of. There was a whole lot 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 sport set on the planet of The Final of Us, with the studio even releasing idea artwork from the mission. In December 2023, nonetheless, the Uncharted developer introduced that the multiplayer title had been cancelled. In accordance with the developer, ‘The Final of Us On-line’ would have required a long-term dedication to push out common updates, basically turning Naughty Canine right into a live-service studio. The corporate as an alternative determined to desert the route it was headed and stick to creating what it was good at — single-player titles.
Regardless of a number of teasers and experiences about Naughty Canine’s unannounced tasks, the studio and its mother or father Sony have saved its subsequent sport tightly underneath wraps. Naughty Canine, one in all Sony’s most prestigious sport studios, is but to launch an authentic sport on the PS5, 4 years after the console launched.
