As fans eagerly await the release of The Witcher 4, slated for 2027, they face a similar wait for Naughty Dog's newly announced title, Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet. According to Bloomberg reporter Jason Schreier on ResetEra, neither game will hit the market in the coming year, pushing the earliest release date for Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet to 2027 as well. This extended timeline raises questions about the game's platform—whether it will target the PlayStation 5, the upcoming PlayStation 6, or possibly serve as a cross-gen title.
If Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet launches directly on the PS6, it would mean Naughty Dog would have bypassed the PS5 generation for brand new games. To date, the studio has focused on ports, remasters, and remakes for Sony's current 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.
Naughty Dog unveiled Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet at The Game Awards 2024, spotlighting a star-studded cast. Tati Gabrielle, known from the Uncharted movie, takes on the role of protagonist Jordan A. Mun, while Kumail Nanjiani from Marvel's Eternals portrays a character named Colin Graves. Fans have dissected the trailer to uncover more about the cast, piecing together clues from a brief glimpse of a crew.
Earlier this month, Neil Druckmann, director of The Last of Us, shared further insights into Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet during an interview with Alex Garland, the writer behind the zombie film 28 Days Later. Druckmann revealed that the game has been in development for four years already, reflecting on the studio's past experiences and creative choices.
"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 admitted. Garland responded lightheartedly, "Who gives a shit?" to which Druckmann agreed, "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 themes of faith with a significant religion that has evolved over time. Druckmann teased the setting, "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 emphasized the game's unique narrative 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
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Assuming Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet launches in 2027, the game will have been in development for six years by that time. Despite the long wait, Druckmann expressed optimism during an interview with IGN on the red carpet at The Last of Us Season 2 premiere, 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."
