The Last of Us Director Neil Druckmann Wants Naughty Dog's New Game Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet to Make You Feel 'Really Lost and Confused'

Neil Druckmann, the director behind the critically acclaimed "The Last of Us," has recently provided exciting insights into Naughty Dog's latest project, Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet. In a revealing interview with Alex Garland, the mastermind behind the zombie film "28 Days Later," Druckmann discussed the intricate development process of this upcoming game, which has been in the works for an impressive four years.

Reflecting on past projects, Druckmann humorously noted, "We made a game, The Last of Us 2, we made certain creative decisions that got us a lot of hate. A lot of people love it, but a lot of people hate that game." Garland playfully responded with, "Who gives a shit?" Druckmann agreed, highlighting the team's playful approach to their new endeavor, stating, "But the joke is like, you know what, let's do something that people won't care as much about — let's make a game about faith and religion."

Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet Screenshots

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Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet introduces players to an alternate historical timeline, featuring a significant religion that has evolved over centuries. The game stars Jordan A. Mun as Tati Gabrielle, who plays a bounty hunter on a mission to leave a mysterious planet. Druckmann teased, "This whole religion takes place on this one planet, and then at one point, all communication stops. And you're playing a bounty hunter that's chasing her bounty, and she crash lands on this planet."

Druckmann emphasized the game's focus on isolation and discovery, saying, "So many of the previous games we've done, there's always, like, an ally with you. I really want you to be lost in a place that you're really confused about what happened here, who are the people here, what was their history. And in order to get off this planet — again, no one has been heard from this planet for 600 years or so — if you ever have hoped to have a chance to get off, you have to figure out what happened here."

In other news related to Naughty Dog, Neil Druckmann and Craig Mazin, showrunners of "The Last of Us" Season 2, confirmed that “spores are back” following their absence in Season 1. At SXSW 2025, Druckmann shared that the upcoming season will feature an "escalation of numbers and types of infected, but also, as you see in the trailer, an escalation of the vector of how this thing spreads." He further elaborated, "Season 1, we had this new thing that wasn’t in the game of these tendrils that spread, and that was one form. And then one shot you see in this trailer, there are things in the air."

Additionally, actress Kaitlyn Dever discussed her role as Abby in "The Last of Us" Season 2, admitting she struggles to avoid checking online reactions to her performance.