Summary
According to a reliable insider,Naughty Dog’s unannounced next game will have a “lot of player freedom”, which suggests that it’ll be less linear thanThe Last of UsandUncharted.
Although we’ve known for along time now that Naughty Dog is working on its next big release, we know very little about what it’s actually going to be. There have been a lot of rumours and hints about it (including concept art in The Last of Us Part 1 that implied it’ll have a fantasy setting), but barely anything concrete has been revealed so far.
We have no idea when Naughty Dog is finally going to change that and unveil what it’s spent at least four years working on, but small details have popped up here and there. The latest is particularly interesting as, if true, it means that PlayStation’s biggest developer could be moving away from the design it’s arguably perfected.
“Player Freedom” Will Reportedly Be A Big Part Of Naughty Dog’s Next Game
As pointed out by ResetEra user Angie, MinnMax founder Ben Hanson recently spoke about Naughty Dog’s structureduring the latest episode of the MinnMax show. After bringing up Naughty Dog in a conversation about gaming developers, Hanson shared a “juicy tidbit” about its next project, which he heard from someone who worked on the mysterious game.
According to Hanson’s source, Naughty Dog’s next project will have a “lot of player freedom” as it was compared to a game that’s known for that. Hanson didn’t say which title was the comparison point so as to not set expectations, but the ones that jump to mind straight away are Breath of the Wild and Elden Ring.
I heard from someone very in the know who worked on the game that they’re like ‘jesus christ’. The tone was like ‘you are all not ready for how amazing this thing is going to be. The tone was - I’m not going to say the name of the game they compared it to - but they compared it to a game with a lot of player freedom. - Ben Hanson
Beyond suggesting that we’re all not ready for how amazing ND’s next game is going to be, Hanson didn’t reveal too much else about it. Still, what was said is enough to know that it’ll be a big departure from Naughty Dog’s more linear story-based games. We did see glimpses of that freedom in Uncharted 4 and The Last of Us Part 2’s bigger levels, but it sounds like it’ll be on another level.
