Sony may have just teased its next Uncharted game in a new commercial about a supposed end to the PlayStation 5 console shortage. In between vignettes for announced games like Spider-Man 2 is a brief clip of a woman carrying a torch through a cave, and fans think it might be pointing to a new Uncharted game starring Nathan Drake’s daughter, Cassie.
A post over at the PlayStation Blog (via VGC) even says that the new PS5 ad “hints at the breadth of extraordinary experiences” available on the console, and goes out of its way to dare players to see if they can “spot all the game references.” The woman in the cave, who at one point can be seen blowing dust off a mysterious artefact, appears to be the only part of the commercial that doesn’t correspond to a currently announced or released Playstation exclusive.
The last numbered game in the series, PlayStation 4’s Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End, concluded with a monologue featuring a playable Cassie Drake. The daughter of series protagonists Nathan Drake and Elena Fisher, Cassie rifles through memorabilia from the two’s past adventures, eventually getting caught and convincing her parents to share the stories of their past lives. Naughty Dog couldn’t have telegraphed any more clearly what its potential future plans for the series were.
This teaser from the #PS5 ad might be the return of #Uncharted, it features the character Cassie who is the daughter of Nathan Drake and Elena Fisher.
Strong resemblance right ? pic.twitter.com/BUGRr56UEa
— Julien (@MajorDcp) January 30, 2023
But that was almost seven years ago at this point. With the exception of 2017’s terrific standalone expansion, Uncharted: The Lost Legacy, and the recent remastered Legacy of Thieves Collection, we haven’t heard a peep from Sony about the future of the series. In fact, just last week Naughty Dog Co-President Neil Druckman, told Buzzfeed the studio had no plans for more games. “We’re done [with Uncharted],” he said. “We’re moving on.”
Sony might not be finished, however. Multiple job postings last year hinted at Naughty Dog possibly collaborating with a new internal PlayStation team on an existing franchise, while other rumours suggested a possible reboot was in the works. Whatever path a new project ended up taking, it’s easy to see why Sony would want to continue the series.
Uncharted 4 managed to sell 16 million copies, and even the lacklustre Hollywood film adaptation grossed close to four times its budget. During a period when the movie, TV, and game industries are all doubling down on established franchises, it’s hard to see Uncharted, a precursor to Sony’s recent hot streak in first-party development, being left in the vault.
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