The Last of Us Part 1 discovery reignites the Naughty Dog fantasy game rumor

The Last of Us Part 1 Remake artifact collectibles locations
(Image credit: Naughty Dog)

The Last of Us Part 1 players have inadvertently reignited the rumors behind Naughty Dog’s next IP and its potential Fantasy setting. 

As fan account Naughty Dog Central points out, players have grown suspicious of a collection of artworks displayed in The Last of Us Part 1. As you can see from the tweet below, there’s a section in the Naughty Dog remake where Joel encounters a wall full of illustrations that look to be of a fantasy nature, which has got many thinking that this could be a nod towards a future IP hidden in plain sight. 

Many of you probably remember that at the start of this year it was rumored that Naughty Dog was creating a fantasy IP for its next game. This was due to a concept artist at the studio sharing what looked to be some fantasy-themed artwork online with the caption: "Inspired from the new game." This rumor was later dispelled with the artist revealing that they were inspired by Assassin's Creed Valhalla, not a new Naughty Dog title.  

We already know that The Last of Us director and studio co-president Neil Druckmann has said that Naughty Dog has multiple projects in the works, and with just The Last of Us Part 1 and The Last of Us Part 2's massive standalone multiplayer game being announced since then, who's to say that Naughty Dog isn't working on any other top secret projects? 

About to head off on Joel and Ellie's adventure? Take a look at our The Last of Us Part 1 guide to get started.

Hope Bellingham
News Writer

After studying Film Studies and Creative Writing at university, I was lucky enough to land a job as an intern at Player Two PR where I helped to release a number of indie titles. I then got even luckier when I became a Trainee News Writer at GamesRadar+ before being promoted to a fully-fledged News Writer after a year and a half of training.  My expertise lies in Animal Crossing: New Horizons, cozy indies, and The Last of Us, but especially in the Kingdom Hearts series. I'm also known to write about the odd Korean drama for the Entertainment team every now and then.