Naughty Dog Teases Intergalactic Ahead of State of Play

Naughty Dog could finally show gameplay during Sony’s upcoming State of Play presentation.

Naughty Dog has delivered its first major update to Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet in what feels like a long time, and the announcement's timing has immediately caught the eye of PlayStation fans. Production of Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet cinematic shoot has officially completed, the studio announced, indicating another significant development milestone has been met.

The update was posted on Naughty Dog’s social media channels with the caption “See you Space Cowboy,” paying tribute to the cast and their work on the project. The post racked up millions of views and tens of thousands of likes, but fans have been rather split in their response.

A cinematic trailer for Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet was announced in 2024 to introduce its core concept and sci-fi universe.

But the trailer deliberately hid most specifics about the actual game. This has left fans with many questions about the gameplay, story, and overall direction. Intergalactic should see the company take on a genre that is markedly different from Naughty Dog’s prior big projects like The Last of Us and Uncharted. Previous talk and reports about the project have hinted at a more action-RPG-oriented experience, but how much RPG mechanics are involved remains a mystery.

The most interesting thing is the timing of the announcement. Sony just confirmed a new State of Play presentation, and Naughty Dog’s Intergalactic upgrade came out on the very same day. That has prompted many fans to think the studio’s secret new game could be announced during the event. Sony has said PlayStation Studios games will be part of the presentation, and in the past, the company has used massive showcases to highlight one of its biggest first-party projects.

So it’s a really big moment for Naughty Dog to suddenly pop back up, especially after such a long hush around Intergalactic. But the project has had an exceptionally protracted development cycle. Sony ultimately axed the Last of Us multiplayer project, which Naughty Dog spent years developing. The cancellation apparently followed heavy investment in development, and forced Naughty Dog to refocus its attention on single-player projects.

That decision may have contributed to the protracted wait for Intergalactic.

With Naughty Dog spending most of the current console generation without a brand new game, there’s a lot of pressure on its next project. The company has also touted Intergalactic as the start of a potential significant new franchise. This sets very high expectations for the game, especially given the commercial and critical success of both Uncharted and The Last of Us.

There’s already a good deal of skepticism among some fans following the game’s initial presentation. However, Naughty Dog’s reputation for high-quality storytelling and technical mastery means there’s still plenty of excitement in seeing the project in action.

If Intergalactic does surface at the next State of Play, it might be in the form of a complete gameplay reveal, finally answering many of the mysteries surrounding Naughty Dog’s ambitious new approach. While the game may or may not be on track to finish in 2027, the update would show production is still moving forward.