As fans eagerly await the next chapter in their favorite gaming series, the wait for *The Witcher 4* stretches into 2027, and it's a similar story for Naughty Dog's newly announced *Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet*. Bloomberg reporter Jason Schreier confirmed on ResetEra that neither game will be hitting the shelves next year. This means *Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet* is set to release no earlier than 2027, sparking discussions about its target platform—whether it will be the PlayStation 5, the upcoming PlayStation 6, or possibly a cross-gen title.
If *Intergalactic* is developed for the PS6, Naughty Dog might be skipping the PS5 generation for brand new titles. So far, the studio has focused on ports, remasters, and remakes for the current-gen console, including *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*.
*Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet* was unveiled at The Game Awards 2024, boasting a star-studded cast with Tati Gabrielle from the *Uncharted* movie as protagonist Jordan A. Mun, and Kumail Nanjiani of *Marvel's Eternals* as Colin Graves. Fans have scrutinized the trailer to identify more of the cast and settings, piecing together details from what appears to be a crew photo.
Earlier this month, Neil Druckmann, the director of *The Last of Us*, provided further insights into *Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet*. In an interview with Alex Garland, the writer of the zombie film *28 Days Later*, Druckmann candidly discussed the game's development, revealing that it had been in the works for four years already.
"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 remarked, to which Garland responded with a humorous, "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* explores a significant religion that has "changed and bastardized and 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."
He elaborated on the game's unique approach, saying, "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* releases in 2027, and considering it's been in development for four years already, the game will have been in the works for six years by the time it launches. While the wait is considerable, Druckmann shared with IGN at the premiere of *The Last of Us Season 2* that the game is not only playable but "really good."
"I will say we are playing it at the office and it's incredible," Druckmann teased. "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."
