Naughty Dog artist Hyoung Nam, whose fantasy-themed concept art fueled speculations about the studio’s next title, has denied that his work is from the mystery project.
Naughty Dog co-president Neil Druckmann has confirmed that the developer is working on “something very cool,” but we know nothing beyond that. Nam published concept art on his ArtStation profile with the caption, “Inspired from new game. You know what I’m talking about.” Turns out, he was referring to Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, which released last November (his concept art is from December).
“The illustration is not for ND’s next new game,” Nam succinctly told IGN. While we did ask our readers to tamper their expectations, it’s still a bummer to hear this because Naughty Dog taking on a fantasy theme sounds pretty damn good.
That said, don’t entirely lose hope yet. Naughty Dog has indicated on numerous occasions that it’s ready to give the Uncharted and The Last of Us series a rest so it looks like the studio is crafting something new and different. And if recent job descriptions are anything to go by, Naughty Dog will be pushing the envelope when it comes to graphical fidelity and realism.
“We are looking for talented gameplay animators to help us create compelling systems for our future project(s),” reads a job description for melee/gameplay animator. “Work may include helping shape the hand-to-hand combat system and/or bringing the various enemy archetypes and supporting cast to life.”
We’ll update our readers when we have more information about Naughty Dog’s next project.
[Source: IGN]
