Most recent Naughty Dog project in The Last of Us Part II it was only released in June 2020, but it looks like the studio is already starting work on its next game. Although this information has not been fully confirmed by those in the company, the recent activity of some employees of the studio gives us a good idea of what could happen internally.
Some Naughty Dog developers late last year began announcing that they had received new promotions at the company. While the most notable of these moves probably led to Neil Druckmann becoming the co-chair of the study, a handful of other changes also occurred. As seen on the LinkedIn pages for developers Richard Cambier and Vinit Agarwal, each member was promoted to a director position in September last year. These two moves are especially relevant, as it seems to indicate that Cambier and Agarwal will lead the development teams to move forward.
As for which team could the two lead? Well, that’s the big question here. Agarwal specifically points out in his own profile that he primarily has experience with multiplayer titles. It’s also worth noting that in recent months, Naughty Dog has also been hiring several new employees. This tells us that clearly, the first steps of work for a new game seem to be beginning.
Although Naughty Dog starts working on his next project, associate work The Last of Us Part II it doesn’t seem to be necessarily finished. In 2019 it was revealed that the multiplayer aspect of the sequel had been removed from the larger package, but that the development of the same was not being removed altogether. Instead, it was said that the vision of this multiplayer component had a much greater range compared to the Factions mode of the original The last of us and that its new iteration would be announced in the future. As of this writing, this revelation has not yet transcended.
Overall, though, what do you think Naughty Dog will work on next? You want me to work on a property like this again Unexplored or The last of us, or would you rather something completely new happen? Give me your opinion on the comments below or send me a Twitter message at @ MooreMan12 if you want to chat more.
[H/T Twisted Voxel]