Naughty Dog: Last of Us team almost developed a PS3 Jak & Daxter
Uncharted-influenced reboot could still happen, teases developer
Weekly digests, tales from the communities you love, and more
You are now subscribed
Your newsletter sign-up was successful
Want to add more newsletters?
Every Friday
GamesRadar+
Your weekly update on everything you could ever want to know about the games you already love, games we know you're going to love in the near future, and tales from the communities that surround them.
Every Thursday
GTA 6 O'clock
Our special GTA 6 newsletter, with breaking news, insider info, and rumor analysis from the award-winning GTA 6 O'clock experts.
Every Friday
Knowledge
From the creators of Edge: A weekly videogame industry newsletter with analysis from expert writers, guidance from professionals, and insight into what's on the horizon.
Every Thursday
The Setup
Hardware nerds unite, sign up to our free tech newsletter for a weekly digest of the hottest new tech, the latest gadgets on the test bench, and much more.
Every Wednesday
Switch 2 Spotlight
Sign up to our new Switch 2 newsletter, where we bring you the latest talking points on Nintendo's new console each week, bring you up to date on the news, and recommend what games to play.
Every Saturday
The Watchlist
Subscribe for a weekly digest of the movie and TV news that matters, direct to your inbox. From first-look trailers, interviews, reviews and explainers, we've got you covered.
Once a month
SFX
Get sneak previews, exclusive competitions and details of special events each month!
Naughty Dog's second team, currently hard at work on The Last of Us, was almost assigned the task of rebooting Jak & Daxter for the PS3, the developer has revealed. In an interview with Game Informer (via Destructoid), co-president Evan Wells reveals that before The Last of Us had been conceived, the team “fairly extensively” explored the possibility of re-inventing the PS2 favorite in a more realistic, Uncharted-esque vein.
Having spent three games making the transition from brightly-colored platform romp to ever-edgier revenge saga, Jak & Daxter almost made the transition to PS3 when Naughty Dog began looking to leverage the technology developed for Uncharted 2. However this would have necessitated an even greater shift in tone, says the team's creative director, Neil Druckmann: “We had to reboot it essentially. Every time we got excited about an idea we’d take a step back and look at it and be like ‘It’s not Jak and Daxter'.”
Wells grants the company's still not done with the idea of a relaunched Jak & Daxter. “To say we’ll never go back [to the series] is kind of crazy,” he says, though between Uncharted and The Last of Us, the beloved IP isn't a high priority at the moment. “It’s still up in the air, but I wouldn’t think that’s going to happen, because I think we’d run into all of the same problems” as the Last of Us team did, he admits. Still, if there's one thing the last few years have shown us, it's that you're never too old for a reboot, provided it's gritty enough...
Weekly digests, tales from the communities you love, and more


