New Intergalactic: Heretic Prophet Story Details Revealed by Neil Druckmann

Naughty Dog boss Neil Druckmann has revealed brand new story details for Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet, the studio’s new sci-fi game. Naughty Dog is one of the most beloved studios in the gaming industry thanks to their ability to create rich stories with engaging gameplay. They’re very cinematic games that really immerse players into their worlds. Of course, Naughty Dog hasn’t made a new IP since 2013 when it initially released The Last of Us and since then, it has only put out two games (three if you count Uncharted: The Lost Legacy) and remasters/remakes. While many are longing to see The Last of Us 3, it will likely be years before that happens, if it happens at all.

Instead, Naughty Dog is moving away from the incredibly dour world of The Last of Us in favor of something more pulpy. After much speculation, Naughty Dog confirmed at The Game Awards in December that it is working on a brand new IP called Intergalactic. It has a sort of retro future aesthetic grounded in the 80s, despite taking place 2000 years from now. We don’t know a ton about Intergalactic beyond the fact it will have horror elements and center around a bounty hunter stranded on a desolate planet.

Naughty Dog’s Intergalactic Is About “Faith and Religion”, Says Neil Druckmann

The first trailer for the game looked really exciting and like another big win for Naughty Dog, but there were some left unimpressed by the studio’s direction for Intergalactic. Nevertheless, it’s full speed ahead on the project as development began in 2020. In Creator to Creator interview with 28 Days Later writer Alex Garland, Intergalactic director Neil Druckmann shared some new details on the project.

He noted that The Last of Us Part 2 was divisive and joked that his next game would be about something that won’t upset people as much: faith and religion. He confirmed that the game takes place an alternate future timeline that deviated in the 80s and revolves around a complex religion on a planet that the protagonist crash lands on.

“There’s not only an alternate history timeline, there’s this religion that becomes pretty prominent,” said Druckmann. “We spent years building out this religion from the original prophet all the way to how it gets changed and sometimes bastardized over all these years. […] And this whole religion takes place on this one planet and at one point, all communication stops from this planet. And you’re playing a bounty hunter that’s chasing her bounty and she crash lands on this planet. I wanted to make a game about faith and religion, but also being lonely. So many previous games have an ally with you, but I want you to be lost in a place that you’re really confused about what happened here. Who are the people here? What is the history? If you ever hope to have a chance to get off [the planet], you have to figure out what happened here.”

Druckmann noted that they still have a “ways to go” on Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet and stated that he doesn’t totally know what the game will look like in the end as the game is evolving and changing as it gets made. Given it will have started development five years ago, there’s some hope from fans that Intergalactic will release sometime in 2026. Of course, Naughty Dog is known for really taking its time and delaying its games, so it could slip into 2027 if the studio really needs that extra time. Nevertheless, it’s coming and fans won’t have to wait too long to see more of it. Hopefully there will be some more gameplay released later this year, but it remains to be seen.

Druckmann had suggested in the past that he only wants to reveal Naughty Dog games when they are somewhat imminent so fans don’t have to wait a terribly long time to see more. Whether he was able to convince Sony to go along with that marketing strategy is unclear though.

Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet will release exclusively on PS5. Are you excited for this game or did you lose faith in Naughty Dog after The Last of Us 2? Let me know in the comments or hit me up on Twitter @Cade_Onder.