A new report indicates that Naughty Dog had already begun work on Uncharted 5 before the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted development, potentially halting what could have been the next major entry in one of PlayStation’s most successful franchises.
The claim comes from Tom Henderson, a well-known industry insider, who said that the studio had a fifth Uncharted project in development prior to 2020. According to him, the project did not survive the operational and strategic shifts brought on by the pandemic.
While Naughty Dog has not confirmed this publicly, the report adds significant weight to long-running speculation that the series was meant to continue after Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End.
The timing is critical. The pandemic forced widespread disruption across the gaming industry, particularly for large studios reliant on motion capture, studio collaboration, and tightly coordinated production pipelines. AAA game development, especially for cinematic franchises like Uncharted, depends heavily on in-person performance capture and iterative team workflows. When lockdowns began in early 2020, many studios delayed or canceled projects outright, while others redirected resources to maintain core priorities.
Before this disruption, Uncharted remained one of Sony’s most valuable intellectual properties. The fourth installment alone sold over 15 million copies globally, making it one of the best-selling PlayStation titles of its generation.
Despite this commercial success, the story of Nathan Drake was widely viewed as complete, which may explain why any sequel would have required a shift in direction, potentially focusing on new characters or a different narrative structure. That creative uncertainty, combined with pandemic-related constraints, likely contributed to the project being shelved.
There are also clear signs that the studio’s priorities have changed. In recent years, Naughty Dog has focused heavily on new projects rather than extending existing franchises. One of the most notable is its reported work on a new science-fiction title, which signals a broader strategic pivot toward original intellectual property. At the same time, the company has continued to support existing brands like The Last of Us, which has seen renewed success through remasters and television adaptation.
The pandemic’s impact was not limited to game development alone. The Uncharted film adaptation, starring Tom Holland, also experienced multiple delays due to COVID-19 restrictions before eventually releasing in 2022. This wider disruption across both gaming and film underscores how deeply the franchise’s momentum was affected during that period.
What makes Henderson’s report particularly significant is not just the existence of Uncharted 5, but the implication that it had moved beyond early concept stages. If accurate, it suggests the franchise was closer to continuing than previously believed. That raises questions about whether elements of that work—story ideas, gameplay systems, or technical groundwork—could still be reused in a future project.
For now, there is no official confirmation that Uncharted 5 is back in development. However, the combination of strong historical sales, continued audience interest, and Sony’s reliance on established franchises means the series is unlikely to remain dormant indefinitely. The more probable scenario is that the project was paused rather than permanently canceled, with its future tied to when—and if—the studio decides the timing and creative direction are right.
In practical terms, the report reframes the narrative around Uncharted. Instead of a franchise that ended cleanly in 2016, it now appears to be one that nearly continued but was interrupted by one of the most disruptive global events in modern history.
More News:
Devil May Cry 5: ‘Devil Hunter Edition’ Listed For Switch 2
Treyarch Teases Return of Iconic Black Ops 2 ‘Plaza’ Map in Black Ops 7 Season 3
Pearl Abyss Apologizes for AI Assets in Crimson Desert, Says They Weren’t Meant to Ship
