The Fate Of Uncharted Has Been Decided
Naughty Dog has ended the Uncharted franchise after dismal sales from the most recent game and a disappointing box office take for the movie adaptation.
Following somewhat mediocre sales of 2017’s Uncharted: The Lost Legacy and the same-name movie adaptation starring Tom Holland, Naughty Dog finally decided to put an end to the franchise. This decision was first reflected in the fact that Naughty Dog pulled the plug on a mobile version of the game and now on the entire franchise. Disheartening news for the fans of the franchise, but apparently great news for fans of The Last of Us gaming series.
According to IGN, Naughty Dog is leaving Uncharted in the past since Sony isn’t pressuring the company to make another installment in the franchise, despite the franchise’s massive success. Naughty Dog co-president Neil Druckmann shared that Uncharted was an insane success for the company—it really was—and that 2016’s Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End ended up being one of the studio’s best-selling games, selling over 15 million copies. As per his statement, the narrative has run its course, and the studio is moving on.
However, it’s unclear whether Druckmann referred to Nathan Drake’s story, which concluded with Uncharted 4, or the overall franchise, which ended with 2017’s Uncharted: Lost Legacy. We’re not counting the last year’s release, Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves Collection, as it’s basically a bundled-up version of two aforementioned titles remastered to PlayStation 5 and the PC. In the end, it doesn’t really matter which release Druckmann referred to; it’s better to conclude a franchise with quality than fight for quantity—the latter is a losing game.
Too many companies have tried extending the lives of their respective franchises only to experience a massive dip in quality, which, instead of nice gaming memory, usually leaves quite a bitter aftertaste. So, Naughty Dog’s decision to distance itself from the Uncharted franchise, either indefinitely or for the foreseeable future, is to be respected. The series consists of four mainline titles and several spin-offs, expansions, and the aforementioned re-release that shows Sony’s dedication to its gaming hardware and the company’s expansion into the PC gaming market.
The news, disheartening as it is, isn’t without any upsides. The talks about the continuation of The Last of Us franchise have been opened again, and Druckmann stated that it’s up to Naughty Dog to decide whether it will continue the games. As per our previous report, Druckmann already stated that the narrative for the third installment in The Last of Us franchise had been outlined, but there wasn’t any active production scheduled at the time.
Perhaps now that Uncharted is no longer being worked on, The Last of Us Part 3 might finally see the light of day, although this time Druckmann shared that the upcoming The Last of Us probably won’t be a Part 3 of the series but a multiplayer experience with a brand new story. Data miners have previously uncovered plans for the multiplayer component in The Last of Us Part 2, so it’s entirely possible for the studio to pursue a multiplayer release, especially after Sony acquired Bungie, a studio that specializes in multiplayer experiences. In the end, why not: the ending in Part 2 was solid, and it can stand on its own for a few more years.
It’s worth noting that the Uncharted adaptation, despite winning at the box office, didn’t really sit well with the fans. The Last of Us HBO TV adaptation, on the other hand, continues to perform admirably; its success spiked the sales for The Last of Us Part 1 by nearly 240% in the UK—and that only for the PlayStation 5 version of the game. The PC version is expected to launch in March 2023.
