Naughty Dog Isn’t Sure What’s Next After The Last Of Us Part II

Usually, a game studio has its next three or four projects planned out, in an effort to keep up efficiency with certain franchises. However, Naughty Dog doesn't seem to be working this way, as it apparently doesn't have anything on its plate outside of The Last of Us Part II, once Uncharted: The Lost Legacy is released.

They discussed this earlier this week, but the team's director of communications, Arne Meyer, went into more detail talking with the Daily Star, explaining that they aren't really looking to lay down future plans until The Last of Us Part II enters full production – though that won't be for a while.

"So, we can pretty much say the whole studio will be focused on The Last of Us Part II once [The Lost Legacy] is over," he explained.

"At some point, parts of the team that will try to figure out what's next and how that goes when The Last of Us Part II is [in] full production. We'll see if there are potential resources to spare which can go into that discovery period, but it's hard to tell now.

"A lot of people went straight from The Last of Us, straight into Uncharted 4, straight into Lost Legacy and those guys need a vacation. And because we started really early on with The Last of Us Part II it'll take a while for people in the studio to figure out what's next, where do we go next and which projects we want to think about … so, if you're holding out for UnKarted you could be waiting some time." (We're pretty sure UnKarted is a joke…uh, right?)

Also adding to the conversation was Lost Legacy creative director Shaun Escayg who noted that "there's a lot of story we've yet to tell" with the Uncharted franchise, "but we may not be telling it." He did note that it'd be "great" if there's a new story, but, for now, "we're perfectly happy to step away from it."

As far as having that blank slate – and maybe a little time off – Escayg explained, "Yes, it's pretty exciting… We don't know what the future holds, but you're right, it could be something new. It could be another Uncharted, who knows. Naughty Dog is not afraid of exploring more stuff."

In the meantime, Uncharted: The Lost Legacy arrives on PlayStation 4 on August 22nd, and The Last of Us Part II currently doesn't have a release date.