New Uncharted Game Reportedly in Development at Naughty Dog, Led by The Lost Legacy's Creative Director

Naughty Dog might finally be making another Uncharted game. This would be an actual new adventure, and the person reportedly leading it has already helped prove the franchise could work without Nathan Drake. That should be exciting news by itself.

But there is one decision that could turn this comeback into a mistake before we even see gameplay: whether Naughty Dog understands that bringing back Uncharted doesn't necessarily mean dragging Nathan Drake out of retirement. Later in this piece I will also get into how I think a new Uncharted should actually play, because I suspect that matters even more than who is holding the rope.

MP1st reports a new Uncharted is in development at Naughty Dog, and it is not a remake

I want another Uncharted. Absolutely. Give me the treasure hunt, the ridiculous escapes, the action sequences, the ancient city nobody has touched in centuries that somehow collapses 30 seconds after I arrive. I want all of it. I also want Naughty Dog to remember why we love those games and why the ending of Uncharted 4 actually meant something.

Here is what's being reported. MP1st says: "A new Uncharted game is in development at Naughty Dog. It's not a remake." The outlet also reports that the project is being directed by the creative director of Uncharted: The Lost Legacy. That is a really big connection.

This is a report, though, not an official announcement from Sony or Naughty Dog. We don't have an announced title, a confirmed protagonist, a gameplay reveal, or anything like that. I want to make that distinction clear, because we already know how this goes: one report appears and suddenly somebody has a release year apparently found inside a fortune cookie. We can be excited, but we don't have to pretend we've seen the box sitting at Walmart yet.

The breadcrumbs: research in Trinidad and Tobago and a project that isn't The Last of Us

There are breadcrumbs. Earlier reporting linked the director to an unannounced Naughty Dog project. His research post showing locations in Trinidad and Tobago fuelled Uncharted speculation earlier this year.

More recently, insider Nate the Hate said that his project wasn't related to The Last of Us. Those pieces help explain why people are actually paying attention to these rumours. But a research photo is not a game announcement, and I know that.

The Lost Legacy already proved Uncharted can survive without Nathan Drake

What makes this more interesting than the usual comeback rumour is the Lost Legacy connection. That game already answered the question people are going to argue about now: can Uncharted survive without Nathan Drake carrying every single scene? Chloe and Nadine got their own adventure, their own chemistry, and their own reason to chase treasure. PlayStation's official description still presents it as Chloe's first standalone adventure, with Nadine joining her in India's Western Ghats.

In my opinion, that worked. It didn't feel like somebody had taken Nathan's script, changed the name at the top and called it a spinoff. Chloe had a completely different personality, and her relationship with Nadine gave the game its own rhythm. You were still playing Uncharted, but you weren't watching the franchise desperately impersonate itself or bait us with nostalgia.

That's why this reported involvement matters to me. It does not guarantee the next game will be good. Of course it doesn't. Nobody gets a lifetime quality pass because they worked on something we liked. But if you're going to bring the series back, somebody with experience telling an Uncharted story beyond Nathan is a pretty sensible place to start.

Nathan Drake earned his ending in Uncharted 4 and should keep it

Here is the part where I'm going to lose a few people. "I don't need Nathan to be the playable lead again." I love the character, and that's exactly why I don't need another game explaining why retirement didn't work out. I don't need another secret from his past appearing, with Elena once again wondering why her husband is hanging somewhere over a thousand foot drop.

Uncharted 4 let Nathan reach a place most gaming characters never get to go. He got an ending, a life. The adventure didn't have to continue until somebody killed him or the franchise stopped selling. There's value in letting a character be happy, especially after we spent multiple games watching him nearly die because he couldn't leave the next mystery alone.

So if Naughty Dog brings him back, it has to be for a meaningful supporting appearance. I understand that legacies in these franchises are built on characters, and Nathan Drake is Uncharted. I get that. Let him offer advice, connect the new lead to someone, or have a moment that reminds us he's still Nathan Drake. I can enjoy that. But if the entire pitch is one last adventure again, you're asking the audience to believe the previous last adventure didn't count, and you're honestly going to upset a lot of true Uncharted fans.

Chloe, Sam, Cassie or someone new could lead the next Uncharted

The franchise has options. Chloe is the obvious one I'm interested in. Sam could bring a different energy. A new protagonist could work if the writing gives us a reason to care. Then there's Cassie, the possibility people immediately jump to because of Uncharted 4's epilogue. To be clear, none of these characters are confirmed. This is just where I'm speculating.

Cassie could be interesting, but having the right last name doesn't give a character a personality. The game would still need to establish what she wants, what she's good at, where she makes mistakes, and why this adventure belongs to her and not Nathan. If the game expects me to care simply because Nathan is her dad, it's not going to work.

Uncharted needs to evolve without becoming a map full of enemy camps

I think the bigger question isn't really who holds the gun or the rope or the whip. It's how this new Uncharted would actually play. I think the series needs to evolve, but I don't want evolving to mean clearing 50 enemy camps so a map can turn a different colour.

I think The Lost Legacy had a useful middle ground. Its more open section offered more room to explore, with optional discoveries, different combat approaches, and a map you could pull out yourself. PlayStation highlighted that more open structure before release, and it gives a future game something to build on without automatically turning the entire venture into some enormous open world.

I want room to investigate. I want to find a clue because I noticed something, not because of yellow paint, scent trails, or a yellow or blue trail. Then, when it's time for the big sequence, tighten it back up. I think that's part of the magic: Uncharted knows when to let you breathe and when to throw you into utter chaos. If every moment is enormous, the enormous moments stop feeling special. If every location is a shopping list, the treasure hunt feels like running errands.

You also have to have fun. These games can have emotional stakes without making every conversation feel like everybody just received terrible news. The danger matters more when I enjoy spending time with the characters: the jokes, the arguments, the little comments.

Why I'm keeping expectations in check while Intergalactic is in the works

There's also a practical reason I'm keeping my expectations under control. Naughty Dog has other work happening. Intergalactic is an officially announced PS5 project, and the studio has been working on it for six years.

When Naughty Dog cancelled The Last of Us Online in 2023, the studio said that supporting that game would have severely affected future single player development, so it chose to keep its focus on narrative single player games. It also had more than one single player project underway. That's useful context. It doesn't identify Uncharted, but we can connect the dots.

So I don't need a release date invented for me. I want an eventual reveal that shows us the actual direction. Who do we get to play as? What's the mystery? What's the treasure? What can we do that makes this feel like a new adventure in the Uncharted universe? Show me a reason this needed to exist beyond the fact that Uncharted is a recognisable franchise.

Naughty Dog can't mistake familiarity for Uncharted's whole appeal

There's a version of this comeback I'm all over: a focused adventure with really good character chemistry, better exploration, memorable puzzles, and a few sequences that make me wonder how Naughty Dog pulled them off. That's Uncharted.

My concern is that they'll mistake familiarity for the entire appeal. Nathan's face gets attention, and the Uncharted name gets attention, but the next game has to earn the hours after that. The Lost Legacy already showed us there's a life outside Nathan's story. So if this report is true, I really hope Naughty Dog has the confidence to follow that idea. "Let Nathan keep his ending. Give somebody else a treasure worth chasing." Give us an Uncharted that makes us excited about the adventure ahead instead of spending the whole game looking back at what's behind us.

Who should lead the next Uncharted: Chloe, a brand new hero, or Nathan Drake back at center stage?