The rumour of an Uncharted comeback at Naughty Dog is hardly new — it goes back a good long while, and I even made a video about it on Jeuxactu back when we were still working there (see the bottom of this article). Fans have in fact been speculating about a possible new entry for years, but this time things are starting to look a lot more concrete. According to a new report from MP1st, the studio is indeed working on a brand-new instalment, with Shaun Escayg, director of Uncharted: The Lost Legacy, at the helm. And several other details now lend weight to that theory, including the return to Naughty Dog of another series veteran. The project is apparently still early enough along that everything could change, but Nathan Drake is said to be part of the adventure in one form or another.
Nathan Drake is coming back, but...
According to MP1st, then, this new Uncharted would be the next game Naughty Dog turns its attention to once Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet is wrapped up. The information has even been corroborated by insider NateTheHate, which lends a bit more weight to a rumour that's been circulating for ages. For now we know nothing about this new entry, but Nathan Drake's presence is obviously one of the most intriguing elements. Uncharted 4 ended with an older Nathan settled down with Elena and father to a daughter, Cassie. A set-up that naturally led fans to imagine she might one day take over from her father and go treasure hunting herself.
Of course, there's nothing to confirm that theory, especially as the reports simply mention Nathan Drake returning, without specifying whether he'll be the lead, a supporting character, or just pop up at certain points in the adventure. The new game could just as easily tell a story set in another period while still bringing back the franchise's long-standing hero. That's possible too. It would let the studio move the series forward without necessarily revisiting what was told across the four main instalments. The Lost Legacy had already shown the licence could work without Nathan as protagonist, after all. As a reminder, that stand-alone put Chloe Frazer front and centre alongside Nadine Ross.
In any case, the genuinely new detail that matters here is that this would be a new instalment rather than a remake — something that had been considered in the past, notably a full restoration of the 2007 original.
Naughty Dog veterans back in the fold
Shaun Escayg's name certainly gives this rumour an extra dimension. The developer knows the world of Uncharted inside out, having directed The Lost Legacy. He then left Naughty Dog for Crystal Dynamics, where he worked on Marvel's Avengers, before returning to the Sony studio in 2021. And another detail recently caught fans' attention: a photo Escayg posted on his Instagram account. The shot was taken at Fort George in Trinidad and Tobago, and shows an old cannon. Taken in isolation, the picture is obviously no proof of a new Uncharted game. But alongside the reports about his supposed involvement in the project, some now see it as another clue.
And Escayg isn't the only franchise veteran to have rejoined Naughty Dog. Tate Mosesian, who worked on Uncharted 2, Uncharted 3 and Uncharted 4, is also back at the studio, as art director. He spent nearly 17 years at Naughty Dog before leaving the company, but an update to his LinkedIn profile shows that he, too, has returned. Another piece of the puzzle suggesting the Californian studio really is working on a new Uncharted.
For now, Naughty Dog has obviously confirmed nothing. The studio is currently focused on Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet, whose full reveal is slated for 2027, while several The Last of Us projects are also in the works. Either way, the clues around this new Uncharted keep piling up and, frankly, leaving a licence like that gathering dust would be a flat-out waste.
