Neil Druckmann Aims to Make Players Feel 'Lost and Confused' with Naughty Dog's New Game

Neil Druckmann, the director behind the critically acclaimed The Last of Us, has recently provided an exciting update on Naughty Dog's upcoming title, Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet. In a candid interview with Alex Garland, the writer of the iconic zombie movie 28 Days Later, Druckmann revealed that the game has been in development for four years.

Reflecting on past projects, Druckmann humorously noted the polarizing reception of The Last of Us 2. "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," he remarked. Garland's light-hearted response, "Who gives a shit?" encapsulated their approach to criticism. Druckmann then shared the team's playful decision to shift gears with Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet, stating, "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."

Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet Screenshots

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Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet, featuring Jordan A. Mun as Tati Gabrielle, unfolds in an alternate historical timeline dominated by a significant religion that has evolved dramatically over time. The narrative follows Jordan, a bounty hunter, who crash-lands on a mysterious planet where communication has been cut off for centuries. Her mission? To unravel the planet's enigmatic history and be the first in centuries to escape its orbit.

Druckmann shared his vision for the game, emphasizing a sense of isolation and discovery. "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."

In related news, Druckmann and Craig Mazin, showrunners for The Last of Us Season 2, confirmed the return of spores, a notable element from the game omitted in Season 1. Speaking at SXSW 2025, Druckmann teased an escalation in both the number and types of infected, as well as the method of transmission. "Season 1, we had this new thing that wasn’t in the game of these tendrils that spread, and that was one form," he explained. "And then one shot you see in this trailer, there are things in the air."

Additionally, actress Kaitlyn Dever, who will play Abby in Season 2, shared her challenges with managing online reactions to her role, illustrating the intense engagement fans have with the series.