With The Witcher 4 not expected until 2027, a similar timeline applies to Naughty Dog's newly announced Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet.
According to Bloomberg journalist Jason Schreier on ResetEra, neither The Witcher 4 nor Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet will launch next year.
This positions the earliest possible release for Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet in 2027, mirroring The Witcher 4. Like its counterpart, the game's target platform raises questions: will it be developed for the PlayStation 5, the inevitable PlayStation 6, or is a cross-generation release most likely?
If Intergalactic skips the PS5 entirely for a PS6 launch, Naughty Dog would have effectively bypassed the entire PS5 generation for a brand-new, original title. So far, the studio has only released ports, remasters, and remakes for Sony's current-generation console, such as 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.
Naughty Dog unveiled Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet at The Game Awards 2024. It boasts a star-studded cast featuring Tati Gabrielle from the Uncharted movie as the protagonist, Jordan A. Mun, and Kumail Nanjiani from Marvel's Eternals as a character named Colin Graves.
Fans have also meticulously analyzed the released trailer, shown below, to identify other cast members. While the trailer focuses on just a few characters, a photograph seemingly revealing a larger crew has provided further clues.
Earlier this month, The Last of Us director Neil Druckmann shared additional insights about Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet.
In an interview with Alex Garland, the writer behind the zombie film 28 Days Later, Druckmann spoke openly about the development process, confirming the game has already been in the works for four years.
"I joke with the team about this. When we made The Last of Us Part II, some of our creative choices attracted a lot of criticism. While many players loved it, a significant number strongly disliked the game," Druckmann said. Garland quipped in response, "Who gives a shit?"
"Exactly," Druckmann continued. "So our joke was, let's make a game about a topic people might not feel so strongly about—let's tackle faith and religion."
Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet is set in an alternate historical timeline and features a "prominent religion" that has been "altered, distorted, and evolved" over centuries.
"This entire religion is confined to a single planet, and then, suddenly, all communication ceases," Druckmann teased. "You play as a bounty hunter pursuing a target, and you crash-land on this mysterious world."
"Many of our previous games featured a constant companion," he explained. "This time, I really want players to feel lost and disoriented, piecing together the history of this place and its inhabitants. To have any hope of escaping this planet—from which no one has been heard for roughly 600 years—you must uncover what truly happened here."
Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet Screenshots
4 Images
If Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet indeed launches in 2027, and considering Druckmann's comment about its four-year development thus far, the game will have been in production for a total of six years by its release.
While it's a considerable wait, Druckmann offered encouraging news while speaking with IGN on the red carpet before The Last of Us Season 2 premiere. He confirmed the game is not only playable but also "really good."
"We are actively playing it in the office, and it's incredible," Druckmann shared. "It's really good. I'm incredibly excited to finally show gameplay to the world and let people experience it. The trailer only showed the very tip of the iceberg; the game goes much, much deeper than that."
