As fans eagerly await the release of The Witcher 4, slated for 2027, they will have to exercise similar patience for Naughty Dog's newly announced title, Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet. According to Bloomberg reporter Jason Schreier on ResetEra, neither game will be hitting the market next year, pushing Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet's earliest possible release to 2027 as well. This timeline raises questions about whether the game will target the PlayStation 5, the upcoming PlayStation 6, or serve as a cross-gen title.
If Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet launches directly on the PS6, Naughty Dog would be bypassing the PS5 generation for brand new games. So far, the studio has focused on ports, remasters, and remakes for the current-gen console, including titles like The Last of Us Part II, Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves Collection, The Last of Us Part I, and The Last of Us Part II Remastered.
Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet was unveiled at The Game Awards 2024, boasting a star-studded cast with Tati Gabrielle, known from the Uncharted movie, as the protagonist Jordan A. Mun, and Kumail Nanjiani from Marvel's Eternals as Colin Graves. Fans have delved into the trailer to identify additional cast members, with a crew photo hinting at more characters to come.
Earlier this month, The Last of Us director Neil Druckmann shared further insights into Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet during an interview with Alex Garland, the writer of the zombie movie 28 Days Later. Druckmann revealed that the game has been in development for four years, and he humorously discussed the team's approach to creating a game that might stir less controversy than their previous titles.
"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 remarked, to which Garland responded, "Who gives a shit?" Druckmann added, "Exactly. 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."
Set in an alternate historical timeline, Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet explores a significant religion that has evolved over time. Druckmann teased, "This whole religion takes place on this one planet, and then at one point, all communication stops. And you're playing a bounty hunter that's chasing her bounty, and she crash lands on this planet."
He further elaborated on the game's unique approach: "So many of the previous games we've done, there's always, like, an ally with you. 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 — again, no one has been heard from this planet for 600 years or so — if you ever have hoped to have a chance to get off, you have to figure out what happened here."
Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet Screenshots
4 Images
With Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet expected to release in 2027, and having been in development for four years already, the game will have been in the works for a total of six years by launch. Despite the long wait, Neil Druckmann shared optimistic feedback during an interview with IGN at the premiere of The Last of Us Season 2, stating, "I will say we are playing it at the office and it's incredible. It's really good. I'm so excited to finally put gameplay out into the world and show people about it, because we just showed you the very, very, very tip on the iceberg. The game goes pretty deep beyond that."
