Naughty Dog is moving on from Uncharted. Speaking to Buzzfeed, director Neil Druckmann resolutely said that the studio isn’t looking to revisit the action-adventure franchise anytime soon.
“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,” said Druckmann. “We’re moving on.”
It’s the second time that a PlayStation studio has specifically said it was shelving a series it’s known for. In 2022, Sucker Punch disputed rumors that new entries for Sly Cooper or Infamous were in development, either from it or other Sony studios.
When asked, developers often leave the door open for their previous franchises to make a comeback, as BioWare had done with Mass Effect. If a franchise does get put on ice, it’s typically done quietly.
The original Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune released in 2007 for the PlayStation 3, and became a key franchise for Sony going forward. Following the release of Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End in 2016 and its side-story Uncharted: The Lost Legacy the following year, Naughty Dog turned its attention to its other series, The Last of Us.
That being said, Sony itself isn’t done with Uncharted. The 2022 film starring Tom Holland earned enough money to warrant a sequel, and there’s always the possibility that Sony farms the games off to another developer. It happened previously with Bend Studio’s Uncharted: Golden Abyss in 2012 for the PlayStation Vita.
More interestingly, a Naughty Dog recruiter said in October 2022 that she was “building future teams for not only new titles but for the legacy of Uncharted.” That doesn’t dispute Druckmann’s words, but it certainly means there exists the possibility for the series to take shape in a new way with or without its creators.