Naughty Dog seemingly said goodbye to the Uncharted series with Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End and Uncharted: The Lost Legacy and has since been working on The Last of Us-related projects. However, the studio has once again reiterated that it is a series it “wants to see more of.”
Shaun Escayg, who was creative director on Lost Legacy and lead cinematic animator on A Thief’s End, recently spoke to GamesRadar about the Legacy of Thieves Collection and eventually touched on the future of the series. Escayg didn’t give definitive words on the future of the franchise, but said to “never say never.”
“I think we can say for certain that we can never say never,” he said. “Uncharted is a franchise we love – that the studio loves. I love, and [Lost Legacy Co-Director] Kurt [Margenau] loves. It’s a world we want to see more of. So I can certainly say that.”
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“Never say never” has been Naughty Dog’s approach to another Uncharted entry, but that phrase was used in a different context last time. In 2017, Co-President Evan Wells spoke to Game Informer just before the release of Lost Legacy. He told the publication that anything was possible, but stated that the chance was low, given how the studio couldn’t stretch itself that thin.
“I would never say never, but we’ve got The Last of Us Part II on our plates and there’s so much other stuff that [we want to explore],” he said. “It’d be hard. If we magically had that two-team, three-team studio, sure – it’d be great to keep doing it. We really love the franchise, but the studio has limited resources and lots of other ideas. I’d say the likelihood is low.”
Wells changed his tune a bit when he talked to Game Informer again in August 2021. When asked if they wanted to continue to work on established properties or new ones, he said that both was the better option and even name-dropped Uncharted.
“I think the easy answer is: both,” he said. “I think there’s excitement to develop new IP, but there is still a ton of love for Uncharted and The Last of Us, and I think you’ll see both kinds of projects from us in the future.”
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“Both” likely refers to new and old IP and doesn’t exactly mean Uncharted and The Last of Us. However, Wells appeared to be a bit more open to the idea of creating another Uncharted. Bloomberg reporter Jason Schreier also told MinnMax that an Uncharted spin-off was in the very early stages at Bend Studio before that team exited the project after getting the green light for its next game. He also noted that there will “for sure” be Uncharted games in the future.
With the imminent PlayStation 5 remaster and incoming movie starring Tom Holland, it appears as though like there is still room and a desire to make Uncharted games. It’s seems like the question is more about when it will happen and what team would be making it.
