"I promise you, we will not be 'The Last of Us' studio forever."
Naughty Dog boss Neil Druckmann has teased that the studio is working on projects that aren't associated with The Last of Us franchise. For the better part of the past few years, Naughty Dog's primary output has been tied to The Last of Us. This has included not only The Last of Us Part II, but remakes and remasters of both entries with The Last of Us Part I and The Last of Us Part II Remastered. With rumors of The Last of Us Part III also being in the works, Druckmann has now come forward and stressed that this series won't be the sole output of Naughty Dog for the long haul.
Speaking to the LA Times, Druckmann briefly opened up about Naughty Dog and what the studio is currently doing. As he has done in the past, Druckmann said that "multiple single-player projects" are now in the works within Naughty Dog. Beyond this, Druckmann also seemed to confirm that one of these projects isn't related to The Last of Us at all as he said that the franchise isn't going to be all that Naughty Dog works on.
"I promise you, we will not be 'The Last of Us' studio forever," Druckmann said. "We create experiences that are steeped in story and character, especially relationships. The stories have some sort of philosophical core that everything is going to revolve around and feed into."
Obviously, the biggest question surrounding these new projects from Naughty Dog is what they'll be related to. In all likelihood, one of these games will end up becoming The Last of Us Part III as Druckmann teased in 2023 that he now has an idea for what the third installment would be. As for the identity of the other project, there are numerous possibilities. Naughty Dog could opt to create a wholly new IP, or it could return to some of its franchises from the past which include Uncharted and Jak and Daxter.
Given that The Last of Us Part II launched back in 2020, there's a good chance that Naughty Dog could end up unveiling its next game before this year comes to a close. In the interim, though, Druckmann himself continues to work on Season 2 of The Last of Us for HBO, which is in the process of filming ahead of its release in 2025.
