New Uncharted Reportedly Follows Intergalactic at Naughty Dog

After years of speculation, a new report has finally put a clearer shape around the future of Uncharted. According to the report, the studio is developing a brand-new entry rather than a remake, and the project could become the studio's next release after Intergalactic.

The report places the game before The Last of Us Part 3 in the studio's apparent roadmap. It also claims Shaun Escayg is directing the project, which is significant because he previously served as creative director on Uncharted: The Lost Legacy.

His return connects the project to the series beyond its name, especially after his time away from Naughty Dog.

The timing is also notable. It has been around a decade since a mainline Uncharted game arrived, while The Lost Legacy offered a smaller story centered on Chloe Frazer and Nadine Ross. Since then, fans have repeatedly wondered whether Naughty Dog would ever return to the franchise. This report is the first major claim to directly frame another game as an active project.

The most important detail may be that this is not supposed to be an Uncharted 1 remake. The studio previously appeared to consider revisiting the original game, but the new report says it is instead working on a completely new title. That distinction matters because it points toward another chapter rather than a retelling of an existing adventure.

Nathan Drake is also expected to appear in some capacity. The exact role remains unclear, however. The report does not establish whether he will once again be the central protagonist or simply appear as a supporting character or cameo. That leaves plenty of room for the story to move the series forward while still keeping its most recognizable character involved.

That approach would make sense after Uncharted 4: A Thief's End. Nathan Drake had moved away from his dangerous treasure-hunting life, and the story introduced his daughter Cassie in the closing time jump. A new game could therefore focus on Cassie as she gets older and becomes interested in the adventures her parents tried to leave behind.

At the same time, bringing Nathan Drake back would need to serve an actual purpose.

He could be older and less involved in the physical side of an expedition, potentially becoming someone Cassie turns to when a situation gets beyond her experience. That would let the series use Nathan without repeating the same protagonist setup. Sam Drake could also fit naturally into that kind of story.

As Nathan's brother, Sam could become the relative Cassie contacts when she wants to pursue something her father does not approve of. A younger Cassie could already have begun taking small risks and chasing minor jobs before getting caught up in something much larger.

Sam could join her first, with Nathan eventually being pulled back into the situation when the danger becomes serious. Other returning characters could fit around that idea, too. Sully would obviously be much older by this point, making a full action role less practical, but a smaller appearance could still work.

Elena could also return depending on how much the story wants to involve Nathan's family. The key is making those appearances feel useful, not forcing familiar faces into the plot. For the series itself, another adventure would also bring back something that has become less common in modern games: large-scale cinematic sequences that you actively play through.

Uncharted helped establish that style, with collapsing ruins, dangerous climbs, vehicle disasters, and set pieces that constantly shifted around you.

Other modern games now deliver similar sequences, which only highlights how much the original series influenced the genre. That influence is one reason a new Uncharted could still feel relevant. When you play through a huge action sequence involving a collapsing location or a vehicle falling apart around you, it is easy to recognize the kind of spectacle the series helped popularize.

The appeal was never only the explosions, either. Nathan, Elena, Sully, Sam, and the rest of the cast gave those moments personality, while the stories kept the adventures moving. The Lost Legacy already showed that the series could work without Nathan carrying every scene.

It wasn't necessarily seen as the franchise's ultimate version, but it showed the studio could shift attention to other characters. With Escayg reportedly returning to direct, that experience could help if the studio wants another evolution instead of a traditional sequel.

A larger question is the studio’s release schedule. Naughty Dog has become known for extremely long development periods, making its future lineup hard to predict. If Intergalactic arrives next year as expected, the reported Uncharted project could potentially follow without an enormous gap if it has already been in development for several years. That is where the proposed roadmap becomes interesting.

The report places Uncharted after Intergalactic and The Last of Us Part 3 after that.

If those projects moved through development more efficiently than some of the studio’s recent games, Naughty Dog could potentially release three major titles within several years instead of stretching them across most of a decade.

A six- or seven-year window was suggested as a possible way to think about that schedule. Under that scenario, Intergalactic could arrive first, followed by Uncharted 5, with The Last of Us Part 3 eventually completing the sequence. That would give the studio a mix of a new intellectual property and two established franchises.

Such a lineup would not necessarily mean Naughty Dog has stopped experimenting. A smaller project, remake, remaster, or even a return to Jak and Daxter could potentially happen somewhere between the larger releases. Another new intellectual property could also emerge later. The basic idea is that the studio would use familiar series to stabilize its output before moving further into new territory.

The biggest uncertainty remains the source of the report itself and how much of the wider roadmap can actually be confirmed. An insider reportedly backed up the central claim that Escayg is working on an Uncharted project and that it follows Intergalactic. However, the claim that The Last of Us Part 3 is the next project is less firmly established and may reflect details that haven't been independently confirmed.

Even so, the report shifts the conversation around Uncharted by moving the series from vague speculation to a specific development claim.

There have been hints for years, including Escayg’s return to the studio and his previous connection to The Lost Legacy, but this is the first time the rumored project has been described as having a reported place in the studio’s release plans.

For fans who have missed the franchise’s particular blend of exploration, humor, characters and blockbuster action, that distinction matters. The series has been absent long enough for its signature style to show up in other games, yet its own formula hasn't been given a new chapter in years.

If the report proves accurate, the challenge will be balancing that familiar identity with a story that moves beyond Nathan's original era. Cassie could provide that bridge, while Nathan Drake, Sam, Elena and Sully could remain part of the world without taking over the entire adventure. Escayg's previous work on The Lost Legacy could also give the project an established connection to the series' newer direction.

For now, the reported roadmap remains just that: a report.

Intergalactic is still the next major project expected from Naughty Dog, and the details surrounding the following games are not all equally confirmed. Still, the possibility of Uncharted returning after such a long absence is considerably more concrete than the scattered rumors that have surrounded the franchise for years.

The series has always been built around impossible escapes, ancient mysteries, and cinematic moments. A new game would have to respect that identity while giving its characters a reason to keep moving forward. If Naughty Dog can manage that balance and shorten the long waits between releases, the reported future of Uncharted could mark a significant new phase for the studio.