‘Player Freedom’ in Naughty Dog’s Next Game
The info comes from Ben Hanson (as noticed by ResetEra), founding father of impartial video games media outlet MinnMax, who claimed final week that Naughty Dog’s long-awaited unannounced mission will doubtless characteristic “lots of participant freedom.” While Hanson didn’t develop on what that participant freedom would translate to by way of gameplay, his assertion suggests the Sony-owned studio’s subsequent recreation might be a departure from its signature narrative-focused, hyper-linear titles that often supply a really on-rails expertise to gamers.
According to Hanson, a supply “very within the know, who labored on the sport,” instructed him that Naughty Dog’s subsequent recreation would take gamers abruptly. The supply in contrast the in-development title with one other current recreation that options “lots of participant freedom,” Hansen revealed on The MinnMax Show final week.
Naughty Dog launch The Last of Us Part 1, a remake of 2013’s The Last of Us, in 2022
Photo Credit: Sony/ Naughty Dog
Neil Druckmann on Naughty Dog’s Unannounced Game
While that is little or no element to get a transparent concept about what Naughty Dog is engaged on, the declare does line up with Druckmann’s current views on the type of video games which have him of late. In a conversation with The Washington Post in January 2023, the Naughty Dog co-president had stated that he was drawn in direction of video games that instructed their tales via surroundings, exploration and gameplay, fairly than via a standard linear narrative.
“I’m extra just lately intrigued by stuff like Elden Ring and Inside that does not rely as a lot on conventional narrative to inform its story and is–I feel there’s some–some of the most effective storytelling in “The Last of Us,” lots of it’s within the cinematics. But lots of it’s in gameplay and shifting round an area and understanding a historical past of an area by simply taking a look at it and analyzing it,” Druckmann had stated.
In the identical interplay, Druckmann had additionally stated that Naughty Dog was engaged on a number of new tasks, which might be “a bit bit totally different” from the video games the studio had labored on earlier than. “I’m actually intrigued, once more, by no means resting on our laurels and attempting one thing a bit bit new, a bit bit totally different that not everybody goes to love, however that is okay. And, once more, the stuff that we’re engaged on now, I may let you know that the groups are very excited by the totally different tasks we now have at Naughty Dog,” he had stated.
The Last of Us Part 2 featured some participant freedom within the type of a mini open-world degree
Photo Credit: Sony/ Naughty Dog
Naughty Dog’s Next Project, The Last of Us Online and ‘Part 3’
Both Druckmann and Naughty Dog have remained evasive on the small print concerning the studio’s ongoing tasks. Druckmann, in a documentary concerning the making of The Last of Us Part 2, had stated that he had an concept for a 3rd recreation within the sequence. But Naughty Dog’s subsequent recreation is probably not The Last of Us Part 3. In an interview with Kinda Funny final 12 months, Druckmann had stated the studio’s subsequent mission was finalised, whereas acknowledging that followers would count on a 3rd The Last of Us recreation.
“I do know the followers really need The Last of Us Part 3, I hear about it on a regular basis,” Druckmann had stated within the interview. “All I can say is that — look, we’re already into our subsequent mission. So, the choice has already been made. I am unable to say what it’s, however that is the method we went via. There was lots of consideration of various issues, and we picked the factor we have been essentially the most excited for.”
For a very long time, Naughty Dog had been engaged on a multiplayer recreation set on this planet of The Last of Us, with the studio even releasing idea artwork from the mission. In December 2023, nonetheless, the Uncharted developer introduced that the multiplayer title had been cancelled. According to the developer, ‘The Last of Us Online’ would have required a long-term dedication to push out common updates, basically turning Naughty Dog right into a live-service studio. The firm as an alternative determined to desert the path it was headed and stick to creating what it was good at — single-player titles.
Despite a number of teasers and reviews about Naughty Dog’s unannounced tasks, the studio and its dad or mum Sony have saved its subsequent recreation tightly beneath wraps. Naughty Dog, one in all Sony’s most prestigious recreation studios, is but to launch an authentic recreation on the PS5, 4 years after the console launched.
