While Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet continues to draw attention as Naughty Dog’s next major IP, behind the scenes at Naughty Dog, a second major project is quietly unfolding. While the spotlight remains on the upcoming Intergalactic reveal at Game Awards 2024, a revealing interview points to another game in development. The recent interview mostly discussed the thought process of Neil Druckmann, who got to direct the 6th episode for the 2nd season of the television adaptation, and when talking about juggling the different projects, he revealed the following

There’s another game being worked on at Naughty Dog where I’m more of a producer role, and I get to watch this other team and give feedback and be the executive in the room. It makes my job very exciting.

The confirmation of another project in development is a much-needed signal of momentum for Naughty Dog, a studio that has remained unusually quiet since the release of The Last of Us Part II in 2020. While anticipation was high for the now-cancelled Factions 2 multiplayer project, its official cancellation in 2023 left fans uncertain about the studio’s immediate future. The announcement of Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet helped renew interest, but Druckmann’s revelation that a second game is also in active development offers something promising. After nearly five years without a major release, it would be a pivotal moment for the studio to show gameplay for Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet and announce another project.

An interesting source of speculation is that Shaun Escayg might be one of the leads on this project, who was the creative lead behind Uncharted: The Lost Legacy and a former director of Marvel’s Avengers. Escayg rejoined Naughty Dog in April 2021, and the project has reportedly been in development for over three years.