The Last of Us Part III, new Uncharted game or new IP: What next for Naughty Dog?

After the massive success of The Last of Us Part II on the PS4, and with the game becoming the fastest-selling PS4 title of all-time, Naughty Dog is riding a wave of momentum.

Thanks to several back-to-back successes with the Uncharted franchise, and now The Last of Us series, few Triple-A developers have reached the level of acclaim of Naughty Dog and also maintained their streak of quality games. Despite a tumultuous development cycle for The Last of Us Part II, complete with reports of an excruciating crunch as well as significant story leaks, the American video game developer has persevered and delivered a home run with the game.

The first-party developers for Sony are yet to put a step in the wrong direction with regards to their games, with each title receiving both critical acclaim and massive commercial success.

Naughty Dog has also been instrumental in the success of Sony's PlayStation consoles, as they continued to put out quality first-party exclusives such as Crash Bandicoot, Uncharted, Jak and Daxter and The Last of Us.

With such a brilliant track record and a massively successful game in the bag, what is next for Naughty Dog?

Last of Us Part III or new Uncharted: What is Naughty Dog working on next for the PS5?

Naughty Dog recently put up a job listing for Level/Environment Designer for a new single-player game, link here. This move suggests that it is already back in the office and ready to work on a new single-player title, most likely for the PS5.

The possibilities are endless for what the next game could be, and Neil Druckmann — Vice President of Naughty Dog — has stated that there is not likely to be a single-player DLC for The Last of Us Part II.

He was quoted as saying:

"We’d really have to figure out how to create a new [The Last of Us] experience that matches the emotional impact of these stories and I don’t know what that is. Currently."

The Last of Us Part III

A large portion of the gaming community felt that 2013's The Last of Us' ending was as definitive as an ending could be, and did not warrant a sequel. The same has now been said about the sequel, and with the title justifying its existence as a sequel in spades, Naughty Dog could very well continue the story.

Druckmann — also the Director of The Last of Us — had even teased a sequel before the launch of the second game.

New Uncharted Game

The adventures of Nathan Drake have quite possibly come to an end, with a great send-off in Uncharted 4: A Thief's End. The game perhaps has one of the best endings in all of gaming, wrapping up the saga quite well.

However, the adventures of Nadine Ross, Chloe Frazer and Sam Drake have only begun in Uncharted: The Lost Legacy. A continuation of the standalone spin-off would be extremely well-received by fans.

Naughty Dog has set up a great foundation with the spin-off, and the characters are interesting enough to be able to carry a story on their own, without the help of Nate.

New IP

Perhaps, a Naughty Dog on the PS5 in the form of a new IP is what excites fans the most. The developers had previously expressed interest in returning to the well with the Jak and Daxter franchise in 2013, but elected to go for a new IP with The Last of Us.

While a returning franchise is always a sure shot of building up hype and guaranteeing sales, a new IP is really what gets things going.

Naughty Dog's efforts would be much more appreciated and better utilised in an all-new IP.