Naughty Dog’s most recent project in The Last of Us Part II only just launched in June 2020, but it looks like the studio is already starting to work on its next game. While this information has not been confirmed outright by those at the company, the recent activity by some of the studio’s employees gives us a good idea of what could be happening internally.
A number of Naughty Dog developers began announcing late last year that they had received new promotions within the company. While the most notable of these moves was probably Neil Druckmann becoming the studio’s co-president, a handful of other changes came as well. As noted on the LinkedIn pages for developers Richard Cambier and Vinit Agarwal, each member was promoted to an executive position in September last year. These two steps are particularly notable because it seems to indicate that both Cambier and Agarwal will lead the development teams that move forward.
As for which team could lead the two? Well, that’s the big question here. Agarwal specifically notes in his own profile that he mainly has experience with multiplayer titles. It’s also worth pointing out that Naughty Dog has also hired a number of new employees in recent months. This tells us that the first steps of work on a new game look clear.
Even when Naughty Dog starts working on its next project, the work is related to The Last of Us Part II does not necessarily seem to be finished. In 2019, it was revealed that the multiplayer aspect of the sequel had been removed from the larger pack, but its development wasn’t scrapped entirely. Instead, the vision for this multiplayer component was said to be much greater compared to the Factions mode in the original The last of us and that its new iteration would be revealed in the future. At the time of writing, that disclosure has still not materialized.
But what do you think Naughty Dog is working on now? Would you like to see it working again on a property like Not mapped or The last of us, or would you rather see something completely new come about? Give me your thoughts in the comments below or drop me a line on Twitter @ Jeroen1988 if you want to chat more.
[H/T Twisted Voxel]