Naughty Dog's 'Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet' Delayed Beyond 2026, Says Neil Druckmann

As fans eagerly await the release of *The Witcher 4*, set to launch no earlier than 2027, it appears that *Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet* from Naughty Dog will follow a similar timeline. Bloomberg reporter Jason Schreier confirmed on ResetEra that neither title will see the light of day in 2025, suggesting that *Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet* will also target a 2027 release at the earliest. This raises questions about whether the game will be designed for the PlayStation 5, the anticipated PlayStation 6, or as a cross-generation title. If *Intergalactic* skips the PS5 and heads straight to the PS6, Naughty Dog would be bypassing an entire console generation for new releases, having only released ports, remasters, and remakes 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* on the current-gen console.

*Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet* was unveiled at The Game Awards 2024, boasting a star-studded cast led by Tati Gabrielle from the *Uncharted* movie as protagonist Jordan A. Mun, and Kumail Nanjiani of *Marvel's Eternals* as Colin Graves. Fans have meticulously analyzed the trailer to identify additional cast members, with a photo revealing more of the 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 of the zombie film *28 Days Later*. Druckmann revealed that the game has been in development for four years, humorously noting the team's shift towards less controversial themes after the divisive reception to *The Last of Us Part II*. He said, "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," to which Garland responded, "Who gives a shit?" Druckmann continued, "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* delves into a "pretty prominent religion" that has evolved over time. 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. 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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With a projected release in 2027, *Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet* will have been in development for six years by the time it launches. Despite the lengthy wait, Druckmann remains optimistic, sharing with IGN at the premiere of *The Last of Us Season 2* that the game is not only playable but "really good." He enthused, "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."