Naughty Dog Reportedly Returns to Uncharted After a Decade Away
Naughty Dog is reportedly making a new Uncharted game, almost a decade after its last one.
According to Video Games Chronicle, which said its own sources had partly corroborated an earlier MP1st report, the PlayStation studio has Uncharted 5 in development. Neither Naughty Dog nor Sony has announced the project, and the report remains the only account. Uncharted is the studio's long-running treasure-hunting series built around thief and explorer Nathan Drake.
If the report is correct, the game will be Naughty Dog's next release after Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet. That science-fiction story, announced by the studio on 12 December 2024 as a new franchise, will not be released until 2027 at the earliest. So any return to Uncharted is still some way off.
The new Uncharted is reportedly being directed by Shaun Escayg. He directed Uncharted: The Lost Legacy, released in 2017, a standalone chapter led by fellow treasure hunter Chloe Frazer. Escayg briefly left Naughty Dog to direct Marvel's Avengers at Crystal Dynamics before returning to the studio.
The biggest question is Drake himself. MP1st reported, as cited by VGC, that Drake will appear in some form. The report did not say whether he will be the playable lead or a supporting character. IGN, reporting on the claims on 30 September 2026, described the project as one of several in development at the studio.
For fans, this means old clues are getting fresh attention. In April 2026, Escayg posted a photo of a cannon in Trinidad and Tobago with the caption "Research." IGN reported at the time that many fans read it as a possible tease for Uncharted 5. A month later, Naughty Dog marked 10 years since Uncharted 4 with a celebration that included, in its words, a message from Drake himself.
It would be a change of direction. Naughty Dog has not released a mainline Uncharted, meaning a core numbered entry, since Uncharted 4: A Thief's End, released in 2016. The Lost Legacy followed in 2017. Both were later bundled as Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves Collection, released for PS5 in 2021 and PC in 2022. In 2023, studio president Neil Druckmann said the studio had moved on from the series.
What makes this stand out is the timing. Naughty Dog, which describes itself as the studio behind The Last of Us, Uncharted and more, has spent recent years building something entirely new with Intergalactic. A return to Drake's world would reunite it with its best-known favourite while that new series is still being made.
No title. No date. No platform yet. For now, it is a report, not an announcement. But after ten years away, the map may be opening again.
