Neil Druckmann, the co-director of PlayStation development studio Naughty Dog, has shared a few details regarding the studio’s most notable properties, Uncharted and The Last of Us, in a new interview with BuzzFeed.
In speaking about Naughty Dog’s relationship with Sony PlayStation as their publisher, Druckmann shared some positive words about his parent company’s support, and the lack of pressure for the studio to follow up their big successes with more sequels.
‘They have supported us every step of the way to follow our passions,’ Druckmann said. ‘Meaning that just because something is successful, people think there’s all this pressure and we have to make a sequel. That’s not the case.’
This led him to divulge that Uncharted, the studio’s cinematic action series that follows the Indiana Jones-style adventures of Nathan Drake, has likely come to an end.
‘For us, Uncharted was insanely successful — Uncharted 4 was one of our best selling games — and we’re able to put our final brushstroke on that story and say that we’re done. We’re moving on.’
Druckmann was the co-director of Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End along with Bruce Straley, which was the most recent (and probably final) mainline Uncharted game.
Druckman followed on by discussing the idea of The Last of Us Part 3, insinuating that the idea of another narrative sequel to the series is possible – but only if the studio can come up with a compelling theme and story.
‘With The Last of Us, it’s up to us whether we want to continue it or not. Our process is the same thing we did when we did Part 2, which is if we can come up with a compelling story that has this universal message and statement about love – just like the first and second game did – then we will tell that story. If we can’t come up with something, we have a very strong ending with Part 2 and that will be the end.’
Druckmann is currently promoting the HBO TV series adaptation of The Last of Us, on which he is the co-creator and co-writer along with Craig Mazin (Chernobyl). The original co-director of The Last of Us video game, Bruce Straley, is not involved.
The series has reached a number milestones, including being HBO’s second-largest series debut, and HBO’s largest second-week audience growth for a show.
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