Neil Druckmann explains how Naughty Dog chose its next unannounced game

videogameschronicle.com:

Naughty Dog co-president Neil Druckmann has explained the process the studio went through when deciding which game to develop next.

In an interview with Kinda Funny, Druckmann was asked if he felt under pressure to create another hit IP like The Last of Us or Uncharted, which Naughty Dog owner Sony could turn into a multimedia franchise and support for years to come.

Druckmann responded by saying that the studio’s success has afforded it the luxury of being able to choose to work on what’s it’s most passionate about.

“I am very lucky that I don’t have to think like that,” he said. “I joined a studio that was already so successful that we could be kind of prima donnas and just do whatever we want. I know not everybody has that privilege but it’s not something I take lightly.

“So at the end of every project, we purposefully explore several different projects. Some of them might be a sequel and then a bunch of new ideas, and then we really feel like, ‘where do our passions lie?’ Because that’s the fire that has to sustain for years to come.

“And if you pick the wrong project and then you burn out from that idea because you weren’t that passionate about it, two years into a four year project, you’re fucked. That’s how you, I think, make mediocre anything – if you lose your excitement from it.”

Druckmann wasn’t willing to divulge if the studio has chosen to work on The Last of Us Part 3 or something else.

“I know the fans really want Last of Us Part 3,” he said. “I hear about it all of the time and all I can say is that look, we’re already into our next project, so the decision has already been made. I can’t say what it is, but that’s the process we went through, that there was a lot of consideration of different things, and we