Neil Druckmann, the director of The Last of Us, has recently provided more insights into Naughty Dog's highly anticipated new game, Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet. In a revealing interview with Alex Garland, the acclaimed writer behind the zombie film 28 Days Later, Druckmann discussed the development journey of Intergalactic, which has been in the works for four years.
Reflecting on the creative backlash from The Last of Us Part II, Druckmann humorously noted, "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." Garland responded with a light-hearted, "Who gives a shit?" Druckmann agreed, adding, "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."
Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet Screenshots
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Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet, featuring Jordan A. Mun as Tati Gabrielle, unfolds in an alternate historical timeline centered around a "pretty prominent religion" that has "changed and bastardized and evolved" over time. Players will follow Jordan, a bounty hunter, who must utilize her skills and ingenuity to become the first person in centuries to escape the planet's orbit.
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, stating, "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."
AnswerSee ResultsIn related news, Neil Druckmann and Craig Mazin, the showrunners for The Last of Us Season 2, confirmed that “spores are back” after their absence in Season 1. At SXSW 2025, Druckmann shared, "There is an escalation of numbers and types of infected, but also, as you see in the trailer, an escalation of the vector of how this thing spreads." He added, "Season 1, we had this new thing that wasn’t in the game of these tendrils that spread, and that was one form. And then one shot you see in this trailer, there are things in the air."
Additionally, actress Kaitlyn Dever, who plays Abby in The Last of Us Season 2, discussed her role, admitting the challenge of not getting caught up in online reactions to her performance.
