Neil Druckmann, the director behind the acclaimed game The Last of Us, recently provided further insights into Naughty Dog's upcoming title, Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet. In a candid interview with Alex Garland, the screenwriter of the zombie film 28 Days Later, Druckmann discussed the game's development, revealing that it has been in the works for four years.

Reflecting on past projects, Druckmann humorously noted the polarizing reception to The Last of Us 2, saying, "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 responded lightheartedly with, "Who gives a shit?" To which Druckmann agreed, adding, "Exactly. 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 is set in an alternate historical timeline and features a "pretty prominent religion" that has "changed and bastardized and evolved" over time. The game stars Jordan A. Mun as Tati Gabrielle, who must employ her skills and wits to become the first person in centuries to escape the planet's orbit.

Druckmann teased the game's narrative, saying, "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. 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, last week, The Last of Us Season 2 showrunners Neil Druckmann and Craig Mazin confirmed that "spores are back" after their exclusion from Season 1. The latest trailer for the upcoming HBO series hinted at the reintroduction of spores. Speaking at SXSW 2025, Druckmann elaborated on the escalation of the infected, stating, "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 playing Abby in The Last of Us Season 2, admitting the challenge of not checking online reactions to her performance.