Given the success of The Last Of Us, both the games and the HBO series, fans of the franchise might be hoping that developers, Naughty Dog, are planning another game. While this could potentially happen, the studio has been very clear that it’ll only happen if there is a compelling enough storyline. While a plot outline has already been submitted, Naughty Dog has yet to confirm whether they’ll continue with it or not, and what will happen to Uncharted.
The newest game in The Last of Us franchise is an upcoming multiplayer title. Naughty Dog has admitted that this is their most ambitious title ever. Neil Druckmann, Co-President at Naughty Dog, even told Buzzfeed that they consider the multiplayer game to be another chapter in The Last of Us universe.
He continued to explain that the studio is in the privileged position where they can decide what games and titles they want to make. Just because a particular franchise is successful, that doesn’t mean Naughty Dog has to continue bringing out new games.
Naughty Dog works with Sony as the publisher. This means that their projects are all funded by Sony. Druckmann noted that they’re very privileged in the support they receive from Sony as the publisher allows them relative freedom in choosing which title to work on. Where other studios may face pressure to continue producing games within a successful genre, that’s not the case for Naughty Dog.
After all, Uncharted was a very successful franchise with Uncharted 4 quickly becoming Naughty Dog’s top selling game. Despite the great success of the franchise, Naughty Dog was able to finish off the series and call it a day. That’s right, Naughty Dog won’t be releasing any more Uncharted games.
Just like they did with Uncharted, Naughty Dog could walk away from The Last of Us, despite its current success. Naughty Dog does have other projects that they’re working on which includes rumored new IP. However, Naughty Dog would make another The Last of Us under one condition.
That condition being that they come up with a compelling story. Since the developers can decide whether or not they want to work on another game in the franchise, having a good storyline is important. They want to ensure the storyline has the same universal message and statement about love that the first two games did. If they can come up with a good story, then they’ll tell it. If not, the second game had a good ending and the franchise can stop there if necessary.
It should also be noted that just because Naughty Dog isn’t going to make another game in the Uncharted franchise other external developers can continue with the franchise. The same will go for The Last of Us. Naughty Dog has announced that they’re open to the idea of an outside studio continuing with these franchises.
If you’re a fan of The Last of Us, you can continue to enjoy the television series on HBO, streaming Sundays. The first season is set to wrap up on 12 March. As for gaming, we’re still waiting for details on the new The Last of Us multiplayer game.
