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The developers behind God Of War and The Last Of Us both seem to be gearing up for new announcements, but what could their next games be?
It’s been over four years since developer Naughty Dog launched The Last Of Us Part 2 and we’re still in the dark about what the studio’s next original project is.
The situation at Naughty Dog has been complicated by various remasters and a cancelled multiplayer The Last Of Us spin-off, along with various rounds of layoffs, but we do know that ‘multiple’ single-player games are in development at the studio at the moment.
While little is known about these projects, Naughty Dog has recently hired an industry veteran to work on at least one of them: God Of War’s Rafael Grassetti.
In a post on Instagram, Grassetti, who worked as an art director at Santa Monica Studio on the recent God Of War games, wrote: ‘I’m super excited to be joining the amazing crew and project over at @naughty_dog_inc, and to be back to PlayStation!
‘I’m joining Neil Druckmann and his team as Art Director, to help create the next big thing! A huge thanks to everybody who was involved on making this happen and all my friends from sister studios. I’m hyped and can’t wait to share more about it!’
In a post announcing the move on X, he simply wrote ‘New chapter’ alongside the Naughty Dog logo.
Grassetti left Santa Monica Studio after 10 years in May 2023, where he worked as a principal artist on 2018’s God Of War and as an art director on its sequel, before becoming the studio’s overall art director.
He joined Netflix’s Team Blue studio shortly afterwards, which was shut down before it had even released a game in October this year.
What is the next game from Naughty Dog?
Sony has not announced Naughty Dog’s next project, but in a blog post from December last year the studio confirmed it is working on ‘more than one ambitious, brand new single-player game’.
Naughty Dog co-president Neil Druckmann later stated in February 2024 that a concept for The Last Of Us Part 3 exists, implying that the sequel isn’t one of the aforementioned projects in development.
As for what the next project is, Druckmann has only given teasing snippets. In an interview with Sony, he described it as ‘something really fresh for us’ suggesting it is a new IP, and said it is ‘maybe the most excited I’ve been for a project yet’.
While details are low, we definitely know actor Troy Baker, who portrayed Joel in The Last Of Us, is involved in Druckmann’s next game. As confirmed in a profile interview of the actor on GQ, Druckmann said: ‘In a heartbeat I would always work with Troy.’
There have been rumours that one of the new games is a fantasy-based title involving dragons, but this is based on little more than a supposed Easter egg in The Last Of Us Part 1.
What is the next game from Santa Monica Studio?
Following 2022’s God Of War Ragnarök and its subsequent Valhalla DLC, it’s unclear what Santa Monica Studio is working on next.
However, various LinkedIn posts from developers and job listings indicate it is a new IP, and not another God Of War game. The studio has long beenrumoured to be developing a sci-fi project of some kind, although one previously existed over a decade ago codenamed Darkside, which was later scrapped.
Back in 2022, Santa Monica Studio said it is ‘spread out on a lot of different things’, indicating it could be juggling multiple projects too. This, however, was before the launch of Ragnarök’s Valhalla DLC.
It may also have been a reference to the help Santa Monica Studio gives to other first and third party developers working on games for Sony, although the studio has seemed to slowly move away from that role in recent years.
The studio’s creative director, Cory Barlog, last tweeted about his project in March, writing: ‘Seeing some early things coming together on this thing I am working on right now and GOD DAMN the people I get to work with at Sony Santa Monica are just f***ing beyond brilliant.’
Although it may be a little early to hear about Santa Monica’s next project, as God Of War Ragnarök was only two years ago, it feels like we’re perhaps overdue an update on Naughty Dog’s next project.
As such, it’s very possible we could see something at The Game Awards, which kicks off at 12.30am on Friday, December 13 in the UK; especially as The Last Of Us Online was announced at the related Summer Game Fest event.
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