While Naughty Dog has just released The Last of Us 2 Remastered, it may well be that another game from its back catalog will return to the forefront. The title is Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune, the first episode of this legendary saga that ended in 2016 with the ending we know. Naughty Dog has been clear since retiring its goofball hero: move on. But it seems that on the Sony Interactive Entertainment side, we don’t share the same opinion. As we approach Uncharted’s 10th anniversary without any episodes, fairly solid rumors herald the return of the saga via a new remake planned for PS5. Many sources are comfortable enough to talk freely about it today, especially since the DataMind files also allow us to project Sony’s plans.
Obviously, we know to what extent remakes and other remasters are loved by players, at least the loudest on social networks (the reality is quite different). But what we must admit is that all these graphic updates are also for making easy profit for the studios and publishers. This is evidenced by the sales of the latest The Last of Us 2 Remastered on PS5, which was first in sales in France and Great Britain in the week of release and which is still part of the top 5 best sellers today. Also, with two new productions that required between 5 and 6 years of development, or even more today, and cost a fortune to produce, a small remake of Families is no easy task. A remake of the first Uncharted on PS5 with The Last of Us 2’s 3D engine, where exactly does that come from? Why a remake when Sony released a PS4 remaster with the Uncharted Nathan Drake Collection in 2015? Of course from many sources, and the first comes from a journalist, Nick Baker, who works specifically for the XboxEra site. You’ve undoubtedly heard of the site recently, as it’s one of the media outlets that released the scoop on Xbox exclusives that will soon be coming to PS5 and Nintendo Switch. The scoop that forced Phil Spencer to tweet to put out the fire spreading across social networks, but without denying the indiscretion of the media, which leaked Microsoft’s new strategy.
It was during a recent XboxEra podcast, dated February 3, 2024, that Nick Baker revealed this information about the remake of the first Uncharted. He gets this information from several sources, and also explains that his fellow co-host John Clarke may have received the same information. But the sources go further, as following the revelation of this video, another insider named Speclizer, who specializes in data mining, shared files dating from 2020 and seen in The Last of Us Part II, with numerous related to Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune. The elements are mentioned. Speculizer is also at the origin of the remake of the first The Last of Us a few years ago and the first clues released in 2022 titled The Last of Us Part I.
So obviously, we can all ask ourselves this question. Why would Sony have requested a remake of the first Uncharted and not the second episode? 2 For example, more popular among players. Many reasons and the first is that if Naughty Dog has turned an uncharted page to dedicate itself to another new license, it is very likely that Sony wants to acquire a strong license that has been dormant for a very long time (about 10 years). Similarly!). And then let’s not forget that there is another film planned on the cinema side and it’s always very fruitful to be present in multiple mediums at the same time, to build bridges. In the film, the Nathan Drake version of Tom Holland hasn’t met Elena yet and this could be for another film, who knows? And it is definitely in the first video game that the two characters first meet. And then of all the episodes in the saga, the first Uncharted is the one that deserves its remake the most.
We are talking about a remake here and not a remaster, which means that the restoration work will be more important and significant. And if it’s really the same engine that Naughty Dog used for The Last of Us 2, it’s going to change a lot of things and send some noble wood. The 3D models of the characters will be more detailed, more complete, the animations will be more advanced and the interaction with the environment will be more elaborate. We can also imagine settings with volumetric vegetation everywhere, like in Uncharted 4, but with today’s quality and resources. Apparently, the gameplay will also be reworked, because even if it was nice in the Nathan Drake collection, the gameplay remains quite stiff. There, he will be able to enjoy the combat system of The Last of Us 2, be it melee or gunfight system.
As you can see, it takes AAA as much time as Naughty Dog production to deliver high quality. If you watched the documentary on The Last of Us 2, you saw how involved the studio members were, that they took the necessary time to follow through on their proposals. This is why Sony needs to find ways to make money easily and quickly, and these remakes and remasters are a pretty viable solution. Now the question is who takes care of it? Bluepoint Games? A band studio? In any case, one thing is for sure, it’s not a mischievous dog that’s on the case…