Naughty Dog is in danger of missing the boat with the PS5

Following a string of remakes and a cancelled The Last of Us multiplayer game, Naughty Dog needs to leave a mark within the PS5 generation.

[LucasRuinedChildhood]

The second NaughtyDog show their next game, I think we all know that any concern about them leaving a mark will be gone. NaughtyDog publicly stated that they're working on multiple big single player games and when they're shown off they'll be closer to release. Demoing TLOU2 3 years early caused some crunch so they're avoiding that now.
https://gamerant.com/naught...

SuckerPunch are also yet to leave a mark this gen or announce a PS5 game. There was a long 6 year gap between First Light and Ghost Of Tshushima too and they had to cancel another game and restart development. https://youtu.be/aR_E-nbeI4...

I think both will be fine. GOW Ragnorok and Horizon Forbidden West were iterative sequels still also made for PS4 and they still took around 5 years.

[purple101]

Ps5 has secret sauce, these studios just learning how to season it

[Cacabunga]

They already did

[-Foxtrot]

And?

Yeah the next game might be great but it doesn't automatically excuse and cover up how they've handled themselves in the recent years.

You talk about Sucker Punch but at least they were focused, they had a game it didn't work, they restarted development. They didn't come out like Neil did with Factions and pretend everything was hunky dory "Yes we will have info coming at the end of the year, Yes everything is going smoothly" etc

The fact is so far for being Sonys biggest studios NaughtyDog hasn't done a new IP since TLOU in 2013 and the last NEW game in general was TLOU2 in 2020. Everything they've done has been Remasters or Remakes, hell they even took over the awful PC port of TLOU. By the time a new game comes out it will be 2025 at the earliest.

Key people have left, the work has gotten slower, structure doesn't seem to be there anymore, there's been rumours of management issues, crunch, they've cancelled something, Neil the ONLY guy in charge now seems to be more bothered about his TV show...I mean, come on. If this was any other studio these concerns would be justified.

[derek]

@Foxtrot, if only you where as critical of other none Sony studios your complaint would be more believable. Why should you expect ND to abandon the Tlou ip after on a mere 2 games when every other studio has made several sequels to their popular ip. You hold ND to this standard you won't hold any other studio to. The ND haters better get their complaints in now because once they show off their next game everything else will pail in comparison.

[shadowknight203]

Fanboyism is like the idea older generations had regarding corporations and tenure/loyalty. They all thought they mattered and cared about them. Only to realize how little do these companies people work for care about them. That same treatment, is for gaming Companies.

[Redemption-64]

Naughty Dog has really hurt you so so bad. It's honestly very pitiful at this point

[-Foxtrot]

@derek

Lmao I have been, I call both which is why people say the yOuR nEgAtIvE reply to me. No one is off limits

One minute you’re a Sony fanboy

The next your a Microsoft fanboy

So on and on…

@Redeption

Here he comes, upset because someone said something about a studio he adores

This is why studios fall, like BioWare, because of die hard fanboys like yourself who hates when someone says something mean about them. Bless.

I do find it adorable you have this massive thing about me, just being an overall ass about it. Not surprised at someone who boot licks GaaS games and defend them so…

None of these replies so far have actually countered my points, you think calling me as a person does that when it really doesn’t.

[outsider1624]

Fox, I know what you're getting at but jeeze man this whole Neil thing, you gotta let it go. The guy is a writer. You guys didnt like the story, we liked story. End of.
And as for ND, who doesnt want a new ip from them. We all do. Remember how people call out on R*? These guys haven't released a game in 10 years...q0 freaking years. 1 trailer was all it took and they forgot everything and looked forward to 2025. This will be the same with ND...unless they somehow do a redfall of some sort.

[derek]

@Fox, you made no valid point to address. You still haven't explained why ND should abandon Tlou after just 2 games with the ip or why anyone should expect a new game from ND now since the just released their last one just 3.5 years ago. The rest of your rant was just regurgitating internet nonsense about factions based on speculation of speculation or the fake supposed mass exodus of ND employees.

[-Foxtrot]

@derek

No no, you just choose to ignore points and gloss over them.

Yes the next game might be great but like I said it doesn’t excuse how they are currently handling themselves.

Sucker punch did restart development before GoT sure but going off interviews and their portfolio they seem to be better structured at the moment

Neil did continue to big up Factions, there’s a bunch of update posts on their social media. Look it up they are there

ND hasn’t done a new IP since 2013 and the last brand new game that isn’t a remaster or remake was in 2020.

Key people did leave the company, you’re talking about a mass exodus? Never mentioned those words in the above post. Key people. Which is true. Amy Hennig left, Bruce Straley, Evan Wells.

I mean I could go on, I’m not saying anything wrong. You just don’t want to admit that there’s anything wrong with ND which is why great studios can decline because die hard fanboys refuse to say anything

I remember people trying to cover BioWare in the early days and look what happened

So yeah boot lick harder I guess, they aren’t gonna give you a tour of the studio you know.

[__SteakDeck__]

@Redemption-64 TLOU 2 broke him since they killed his father Joel. It’s sad. We know he’ll rip whatever ND does next.

[__SteakDeck__]

@outsider1624 The last Rockstar game was 5 years ago. Did you forget about RDR2? Lol

[-Foxtrot]

@Steak

Oooo more personal attacks and immature responses from N4G assholes because they can’t come up with decent counter arguments. What? Did I call you out in a previous article months or years ago and you’ve held a grudge ever since?

How scary…

Yeah I didn’t care for the story in TLOU2 but even if I did and loved the sequel my opinion on ND right now wouldn’t change. I know that’s a hard pill to swallow but…that’s how it is.

[Crows90]

Exactly right. Sony Fanboys will disregard valid criticism for sure. Just like Xbox Fanboys do. It's a shame because naughty dog used to be great.

[repsahj]

I'm sure their next game will be awesome, like what happened with TLOU2. That game is one of the best (or literally the best) looking during PS4 days. If they don't release a new PS5 exclusive game during the console's lifetime, that will be the time I will help you criticize Naughty Dog.

[Tody_ZA]

Foxtrot, whilst there are valid reasons to have concerns about Naughty Dog, the problem with many of your opinions is that you're holding unrealistic viewpoints about them that could also be applied to other Sony Studios.

Sucker Punch have two games, Infamous and Ghost of Tsushima, which came out in 2020. That's since the PS3 generation. Santa Monica has God of War only, and it took them five years to release God of War (2018) after Ascension and then almost four years to release Ragnarok (2022). Guerrilla Games made Killzone since the PS3 era and created Horizon (2017) followed by Forbidden West five years later in (2022) and their VR experience in 2023. Media Molecule released three games from 2014 to 2020. Insomniac are an exception but they have made three Spider-Man titles and a remaster across more than five years, as well as Ratchet and Clank at launch. Bluepoint Games has released four games since 2015, two remasters and two remakes.

Naughty Dog had The Last of Us Part 2 in 2020 and The Last of Us Part 1 Remake in 2022. They have three franchises, Jak and Daxter, Uncharted and The Last of Us.

Why are you acting like anything strange is going on here in terms of gaming releases? They're on par with all other Sony Studios barring Insomniac.

What I will give you however is the bad communication on Factions, key personnel leaving and an over reliance on remastering. But beyond that, we can't really say much until we see what their new IP looks like.

[dveio]

.

[StoneTitan]

Some key people may have left but if you take a minute to look up who is there its absolutely insane the people working there are some of the best in the industry. They will be fine

[Chard]

ND has allegedly been trying to address crunch culture, which may go some way to explaining the slower pace, and that would be a good thing.
I'm personally no longer in a rush for any game anymore as there are already more good games in existence than I'll ever have time for, plus I'm less interested in 'movie games' than I used to be.

[FinalFantasyFanatic]

I'm personally disappointed with Naughty Dog's output this gen, I'm more surprised that people aren't upset with them since they're only significant releases have been unnecessary remakes of games that aren't even old enough to justify the treatment.

It reminds me of Square-Enix where, for the longest time, they avoided releasing/announcing a new FF game, it's like they didn't know what to do with the franchise, so they kept using left over assets to make direct sequels and side games. I kinda feel that Naughty Dog is in the same position and just milking their most popular franchise (I'm really shocked they haven't tried to milk Uncharted as well). For me, this raises warning flags, even though I don't think Naughty Dog is quite at that point, but we'll see what happens in the next few years, surely, they would have a brand new game ready for release by then.

[Christopher]

***The second NaughtyDog show their next game, I think we all know that any concern about them leaving a mark will be gone.***

I'm not into blind fan-service like this. Naughty Dog has to earn my support and right now they haven't delivered in over 3 years.

[LoveSpuds]

Listen to yourself dude, the idea that a dev team can knock out games of thie quality put out by ND every 3 years is ridiculous. It's been 3 years and for a good chunk of that 3 years we were in a global pandemic. I understand wanting to see what's next, I am hungry for that too, but the idea that because ND haven't released a 'new' game in 3 years they must be struggling is bonkers.

[FinalFantasyFanatic]

I think it's more annoying because instead of directing man power to a new game, they've gone to mention several times that they've directed resources and labour to producing the remakes of TLOU 1&2 which you can easily argue weren't needed.

[Christopher]

***Listen to yourself dude, the idea that a dev team can knock out games of thie quality put out by ND every 3 years is ridiculous.***

What they have produced in the last 3 years have been time wasters that are telling me that they're focused on old games and not new ones. Let alone having to can an ill (and IMHO wasted) attempt at a GaaS MP stand-alone game. Let alone there are two ND teams now and the one has been working on a game for over 4 years now and yet nothing on it.

Compared to what has come out of ND to what I want to see? ND has to earn my support and right now they haven't delivered in over 3 years.

[343_Guilty_Spark]

PS6

[CrashMania]

I'm not a fan of live service at all, but I do think Factions had the potential to be pretty fun a chance of being quite popular for Sony, shame it's not being salvaged in any way, like a non-live service or a standalone non-f2p.

Certainly had more potential than Marathon and Fairgame$ lol.

[Storm23]

I am hoping they can use a lot of the live service factions for just a MP mode on Last of Us Part 3. Similar to the first

[__SteakDeck__]

@CrashMania I think you meant Concord. Marathon is being made by Bungie. They know how to make multiplayer.

[isarai]

I know they'll release a big title this gen, but it is really delayed as are many PlayStation 1st party studios. Likely too late to release more than one this gen though, this live service BS really jammed up everything 😞

[LoveSpuds]

I don't suppose the pandemic impacted on anything then?

[Zenzuu]

As much as I'm loving my PS5 and enjoying the games released thus far, I got to admit, despite an initial strong start with first party games, it's lacking quite a fare bit compared to previous generations.

Other than the The last of us part 1, Naughty Dog has yet to actually release a new game for PS5 whereas in the past multiple titles have come out for Psone, PS2, PS3, & PS4.

Many of Sony's other first party studio are very quiet, with no new PS5 titles announced from them... Hopefully we'll see something from their studios sooner than later.

[derek]

We are only 3 years into the generation, Sony has done far better in their release cadence then for any other generation before. People complain online too much these days becuase we are constantly told we have something to be upset about by the fake news merchant's.

[isarai]

This is simply not true, I've been there for every PlayStation launch, and while this one had better launch titles than say PS3, 1st party has been lacking since. 1st this cross gen stuff just made for very half step feel sequels, and although good games, they don't feel like a "next gen" thing because at their core they aren't. Now it's this live service push delaying all major projects. Year 2 is when PlayStation generations start dropping those next gen experiences, those games that wow you and show you what this new hardware can do, changing even the foundations of how games can be designed, yet here we are entering year 4 and the only 1ST party games made specifically for PS5 are Spider-Man 2, Ratchet and Clank, and Demon's Souls

the only game I see in the horizon that has been announced that is really showing the next gen I have been waiting for is GTA6.

[Rude-ro]

PlayStation 3 took off in year 3
PS4 took off in year 2
Ps5 is holding a line…
But has yet to scream gen defining as of yet.
I have no doubt they will…
But this is the slowest of gens as of yet and yes.. Covid had its impact.
The good news is, where Sony was going to go with live service is not the goal any longer.
They have read the market, and the market no longer is on board with “attempts” at live service.

[Si-Fly]

lol, your list was so short you had to add GT7 VR and HFD dlc 🤣

[WelkinCole]

Said the same thing and I got roasted.

PS3 gen by this time we would have Uncharted 3 already from ND.

We had shit load of 1st party AAAA games by then

[__SteakDeck__]

@Zenzuu @isarai Spiderman 2 Rift Apart, Returnal, and Demon Souls are still much better than Killzone Shadow Fall, Knack, Infamous Second Son, and The Order 1886. Yes the PS4 had more exclusives during it’s first 3 years. But they weren’t better. Give me quality>quantity. More PS5 exclusives will come.

[isarai]

You sure are missing a ton of games bruh. We are at the end of PS5s 3rd year, by this time on the PS4 we had

Killzone shadow fall
Knack
Playroom
Driveclub
Infamous second son
Little Big Planet 3
MLB 14
Bloodborne
MLB 15
Order 1886
Until Dawn
Ratchet and Clank
MLB 16
Last Guardian
Uncharted 4

And that doesn't include remaster/remakes, standalone expansions, VR and smaller titles like unfinished swan.

PS3 had

Genji
Resistance fall of man
Folklore
Heavenly Sword
Lair
Motorstorm
Ratchet and Clank tools of destruction
Uncharted Drake's Fortune
Warkhawk
Afrika
GT5 Prologue
Hot Shots Golf 5
Little Big Planet
MLB 08
Motorstorm Pacific Rift
Resistance 2
SOCOM Navy Seals
inFamous
Killzone 2
Ratchet and Clank a crack in time
Uncharted 2

Also yes quality is also part of my issue, gowr, hfw, Smmm, and even DS are all games designed around limitations of older generations and while they are all great games, they are still ps4/3 games, just with high res and faster loading screens, but this hardware can do much more than that above previous gens, and things like R&C Rift Apart, Matrix UE5, and GTA6 are really showing what we should have been seeing as the new standard over a year ago

[derek]

@isarai, nope this gen we've had 2 Spiderman games a gow game, returnals, ratchet, ff16, gt7, gt7vr, hfw + burning shores, demons souls etc etc. No previous playstation has ever had this amount of quality exclusives this early, none (maybe the ps2 my memory is foggy there).

[outsider1624]

Yes i knw about rdr2. The point was actually about how i saw people being disgruntled because they haven't released gta since 2013..and saying how they've fallen/will fall after houser left. One trailer was all it took to frget everything..lol.

[FinalFantasyFanatic]

This is why I haven't bought a PS5, I just haven't had compelling reasons to do so, it's a pretty weak line up thus far compared to previous gens.

[derek]

ND's last brand new release was a mere 3.5 years ago, why is everyone expecting a brand new game from them now given current dev timlines. The remakes/remasters are fine it allows the company to earn money while they cook. Especially given the technical craftsmanship on display in their games it will take time.

[shadowknight203]

Because as far as anyone knows, that time gap hasn't resulted in much development leading to any new releases anytime soon.

[purple101]

This is true
3.5 years
So they should , SHOULD have smoothing in the next 6months to 1.5 years

Which means, they SHOULD, perhaps have something to show pretty soon/ soon-ish
And IF they don’t, I will become worried too

[porkChop]

Naughty Dog has more than one team though. One team launched a game 3.5 years ago, and cancelled the MP project they'd broken off from that game. What have the rest of the devs been working on? How does ND have nothing new to show 3 years into a new gen? Not even a title?

[Tody_ZA]

The media frenzy around Naughty Dog is because they can't seem to leave TLOU alone and Factions has been cancelled, however looking at their release calender shows:

Uncharted 4 (2016)
Uncharted: Lost Legacy (2017)
The Last of Us Part 2 (2020)
The Last of Us Part 1 Remake (2022)
The Last of Us Part 2 Remastered (2024)
Unannounced single player IP (TBA)

Clearly, Naughty Dog has been busy and their projects are within expected timelines. The "problem" is they've yet to make a slam dunk on the PS5, but people need to be realistic about development time. Sucker Punch released one game at the beginning of the PS4 generation and one at the end. Naughty Dog released two games in the PS4 era. Santa Monica only released God of War.

These studios deliver the quality they do for a reason. Naughty Dog, it's all going to depend on what they show of their new IP in 2024.

[Ironmike]

Naughty dog make unreal games they have something in pipeline gor this gen

[gold_drake]

i think they are gonna put out a new game for the ps5. we are what, 3 years in?
this gen has definetly slowed things down, may it be due to covid or the Activision buyout, or the waste that was the work on the gaas game they worked on.

but, they did come forward and say that they have things in the works.
the fear mongering some gaming websites have ha.

[northpaws]

People kept saying it is not fair that when an upper management made a wrong decision then it is the developer that get hit. Then why do we want to blame Naughty Dog now when they were forced to make live service games and wasted a bunch of their time?

[GhostScholar]

The won’t miss the boat. They’ll at least remaster something.

[Psychonaut85]

I’m sure they won’t miss the gen, but given how PS first party exclusives are usually announced at least a year out from release, the silence from them is a bit odd. Probably behind after what ended up being a waste of time with the multiplayer LoU game. But I’d have expected a teaser or something by now to start generating hype for whatever’s next.

[Profchaos]

We all know anything coming from ND is coming later in the gen due to tlou2 mp cancellation and the project consuming considerable resources for years.

[Barlos]

Why? Is the PS5 about to be replaced?

[repsahj]

I know, right? Considering they released a masterpiece during PS4's final year, which was just 3 years ago.

[hiawa23]

❤️ ND. Looking forward to TLOU2 remake in a few days.

[Hedstrom]

It is a bit dissapointing they havent delivered this generation. And thats not in quality but just that there is no output. I mean compare them to Insomniac who release banger after banger every other year. It feels like there is alot of optimisation to be done in the workflow. Hopefully they can get it going. I mean nothing they have released is bad, we just want them to get in a higher gear i sheer production.

[frostypants]

They lost a lot of good will with me when they killed factions in TLoU (literally removing it from the remastered original) and then scrapped the online game that was meant to replace it. Every great dev eventually hits a decline (see: Blizzard, Bethesda, etc.). It remains to be seen if ND still has their mojo.

[Demetrius]

Ps5 pro coming soon but ps5 base model barely even getting utilized in power smh 🤦🏽

[purple101]

It’s been utilized

What it hasn’t been, is exploited

We need ND for that

[FinalFantasyFanatic]

At least they can get closer to 4K 120hz with the Pro version.

[repsahj]

It's just been 3 years since their last game. I'm sure that their next game will be better and very next-gen compared to what they did in TLOU2. Chill guys! They don't look like others who announce too early and then underdeliver in the final game.

[mastershredder]

Missed the boat? That sank a while back. They done missed the survival dingy.

[dveio]

So ... what's the actual point really?

TloU2 was in 2020. Such a huge and perfectly polished game, in every single aspect.

They've had turbulences at the studio, officially dropped Factions 2 now, all besides working on new things, the TV Show and remakes.

Everything reminding us again Naughty Dog are no Gods.

But still normal people with typical good and bad dynamics when people work together. And keep in mind they've relentlessly been pushing the envelope ever since the PS3 era started.

They have given us nothing but Game of the Year material since the very first Uncharted. The last one only three years ago.

Let us give them at least patience and an understanding of we also, by ourselves, can't always deliver 100% every single day or even every single year.

PS5 generation came along with so many troubles you couldn't escape.

I think, in direct comparison, it's pathetic to cause troubles just because of impatience.

[repsahj]

I think people want to believe that ND can replicate what they did during ps4 first year with Uncharted 4(yes I even bought the LE PS4 console), maybe they can " if " TLOU2 never happened during PS4 final year.

[Firebird360]

These articles are nonsensical.
We don't know when or what naughty dog has coming but we do know they're working.
We also can't assume we know how long this gen will last.
Yes we're 3 years in but that could be 3 out of 5-10, we really don't know.

[P_Bomb]

Definitely time for a new reveal after the failed Factions. Dole out some hope!