Even though Naughty Dog has become more well-known in recent years for its work on the Uncharted and The Last of Us franchises, longtime fans of the studio have continued to hold out hope that one day the developer would look to return to its roots and make another entry in the Jak and Daxter series. Despite that lingering hope from many fans, though, those in charge at Naughty Dog have now explained why it is unlikely that the studio will ever return to those franchises from the past.
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In a recent interview with Game Informer, Naughty Dog co-presidents Evan Wells and Neil Druckmann opened up about the idea of returning to some of the properties that the studio used to work on in years prior. While both executives acknowledged that they still have a lot of love for the studio’s properties of yesteryear, the reason that it hasn’t created new installments with these franchises simply comes down to time constraints. “If we had endless resources and time it would be super fun to do that. You look at what Insomniac is doing with Ratchet and Clank and it’s exciting. It’s great to see that stuff,” Wells said of the idea of potentially making another Jak title. “We’re just limited with time, you know, I’m 48 years-old and how many more games do you get to make, so you got to pick and choose.”
Druckmann echoed this sentiment from Wells and said that the notion of returning to some of Naughty Dog’s older properties is something that has been considered in the past. “Once we finish a project, we spend quite a bit of time entertaining all sorts of different directions, whether it’s going to be something new or if we’re going back to some old franchise. We really take our time with it, and if you were to see our folders of concept art you’d see unused concepts that are all over the gamut,” Druckmann explained. “Then we look at everything and we ask ourselves what are we excited by? What’s something that’s going to challenge us and push us, and push the medium as far as games that can be? Because that inspiration is so important to carry through years of production.”
Although Wells and Druckmann never outright shot down the idea of making another Jak and Daxter game, at this point, it seems like the studio is more focused on pushing the video game medium forward as much as possible. And while the Jak games were special in their own time, it’s hard to see a way in which the studio could push the larger medium forward by creating a throwback action platformer.
So what do you think about these new quotes from Naughty Dog? Would you like to see the studio create another entry in the Jak and Daxter franchise? Let me know either down in the comments or over on Twitter at @MooreMan12.
