Sony has published a new hour-long interview that pits Neil Druckmann (studio head and head of creative at Naughty Dog) against writer, producer, and director Alex Garland (Ex Machina, 28 Years Later), and with it comes the news that Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet—Naughty Dog’s latest project and brand-new franchise—is aiming to be a unique experience, one that’s poised to make players feel lost, lonely, and confused, marking a divergence from previous titles that include Uncharted and The Last of Us.
“You’re playing a bounty hunter that’s chasing her Bounty, and she crash lands on this planet. I really wanted to make a game about faith and religion, but also just about being lonely. Many of the previous games we’ve done, there’s always like an ally with you,” Druckmann told Garland before going on to clarify his design philosophy for the game.
“I really want you to be lost in a place that you’re really confused about what happened here, who are the people here, what was their history…and in order to get off this planet, like, again, no one has heard from this planet for 600 years. So if you ever have hoped to have a chance to get off, you have to figure out what happened here.”
Elsewhere in the interview, the creatives touch upon The Last of Us Part II, Naughty Dog’s 2020 action-adventure game that, while having achieved critical acclaim from several top publications, continues to receive criticism from many players for Joel’s fate and other apparently polarizing decisions.
“I joke about this with the team. We made a game, The Last of Us 2, we made certain creative decisions that got us a lot of hate. A lot of people love it, but a lot of people hate that game,” Druckmann explained, prompting Garland to ask: “Who gives a shit?”
“Exactly,” agreed Druckmann. “But the joke is like, you know what, let’s do something that people won’t care as much about — let’s make a game about faith and religion.”
“Intergalactic stars our newest protagonist, Jordan A. Mun, a dangerous bounty hunter who ends up stranded on Sempiria – a distant planet whose communication with the outside universe went dark hundreds of years ago,” Druckmann wrote in December 2024 when Naughty Dog unveiled its latest franchise. “In fact, anyone who’s flown to it hoping to unravel its mysterious past was never heard from again. Jordan will have to use all her skills and wits if she hopes to be the first person in over 600 years to leave its orbit.”