The next game from Sony Interactive Entertainment’s first party studio, Naughty Dog, has been in development since the year 2020.
During an online panel (via) (note: the video is currently set to private), Naughty Dog president and game director Neil Druckmann revealed that the studio’s next game has been in development since 2020. He further mentioned that while Sony Interactive Entertainment doesn’t let him control how he’s going to announce it, the company has given him full control over the game itself.
Not much is known about the next game from Naughty Dog at this point. That said, during a recent episode of the MinnMax Show on YouTube, host Ben Hanson had mentioned hearing that it will feature a lot of “player freedom”. He had heard from somebody very in the know who worked on the game that people are not ready for how “amazing” it is going to be.
Earlier this year, during an interview with YouTuber Logically Speaking, Druckmann, had shared that game is really ambitious. He added that parts of it are really hard to work on. However, he said that he has surrendered to knowing that it is going to be really hard and to knowing that it is going to be stressful for members of the development team. Despite the stressful nature of the game’s development, Druckmann stated that he wants to make it a joyful experience for himself and everybody else on the team.
Not everything at Naughty Dog has been about passion and joy. The studio had been hit with layoffs a couple of times last year in 2023. Moreover, the multiplayer project that it had been working on for some time had also been been canceled. The development team had been in pre-production since The Last of Us Part II had been in the works. In ramping up to full production, the project got bigger in terms of scope, which ultimately led to its cancellation.
