When it comes to Naughty Dog, the franchises that likely come to mind right now are Uncharted and The Last of Us. These folks thrive at developing some thrilling narrative-driven adventure games. However, the development studio has been around for a whole lot longer. Since the original PlayStation console hit the marketplace, Naughty Dog was present. One of the first big hit releases was Crash Bandicoot. Eventually, when the PlayStation 2 launched, we also saw the Jak & Daxter franchise emerge.
Eventually, the action-platformer genre was more or less dropped by Naughty Dog. Now the studio pushes the boundaries of the level of detail and narrative for video games. Over the years, some fans grew up with the different Naughty Dog video game titles. Fans shouldn’t expect a return to some of the more older franchises from Naughty Dog. It’s a bit of a trend lately, with older IPs getting revivals either by new installments or even remakes.
Naughty Dog co-presidents Evan Wells and Neil Druckmann spoke with Game Informer. For fans looking for past franchises like Jak & Daxter to get a revival, that’s not happening. Evan Wells said that at his age of being 48 years old, it’s become more of an essential choice for developing games. Evan noted that they are limited on time, so it seems critical to know what to work on while still in the industry. However, that doesn’t mean there is no desire to make a return to past franchises.
Both co-presidents seem to have an interest. However, with the limited amount of time and resources available, it looks like there’s not much of a push to go backward at Naughty Dog. If there wasn’t a limit with time and resources available for the studio then this would be a different story. Perhaps we could one day see a return to the likes of Jak & Daxter. But for now, it looks like that action platformer is remaining dormant for the time being.
