''Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet'' is an upcoming

action-adventure game An action-adventure game is a video game hybrid genre that combines core elements from both the action game and adventure game genres. Definition An action adventure game can be defined as a game with a mix of elements from an action ...

developed by

Naughty Dog Naughty Dog, LLC (formerly JAM Software, Inc.) is an American first-party video game developer based in Santa Monica, California. Founded by Andy Gavin and Jason Rubin in 1984, the studio was acquired by Sony Computer Entertainment in 2001. G ...

and published by

Sony Interactive Entertainment Sony Interactive Entertainment LLC (SIE) is an American video game and digital entertainment company that is a major subsidiary of Japanese conglomerate Sony, Sony Group Corporation. It primarily operates the PlayStation brand of video game co ...

for the

PlayStation 5 The PlayStation 5 (PS5) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. It was announced as the successor to the PlayStation 4 in April 2019, was launched on November 12, 2020, in Australia, Japan, New Zealand, North ...

. Set thousands of years in the future, it follows the bounty hunter Jordan A. Mun (

Tati Gabrielle Tatiana Gabrielle Hobson (born January 25, 1996), known professionally as Tati Gabrielle, is an American actress. She is known for her roles as Gaia on The CW science fiction television series '' The 100'', Prudence on the Netflix original serie ...

) who is stranded on a remote planet searching for a crime syndicate. Development began in 2020 after the release of Naughty Dog's previous game, '' The Last of Us Part II'', and is led by creative director

Neil Druckmann Neil Druckmann (; born December5, 1978) is an Israeli–American writer, creative director, designer, and programmer. He is the studio head and head of creative of the video game developer Naughty Dog, and is best known for his work on the g ...

, game directors Matthew Gallant and Kurt Margenau, and narrative director Claire Carré. Its score is composed by

Trent Reznor Michael Trent Reznor (born May 17, 1965) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and composer. He came to prominence as the founder, lead singer, multi-instrumentalist, and primary songwriter of the industrial rock band Nine Inch Nails. T ...

and

Atticus Ross Atticus Matthew Cowper Ross (born 16 January 1968) is an English musician, composer, record producer, and audio engineer. He is best known for his work with American musician Trent Reznor, with whom he first worked on the musical project Tapewo ...

Premise

''Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet'' is an

set around two thousand years in the future, in an alternate universe where advanced space travel existed by 1986. Veteran bounty hunter Jordan A. Mun becomes stranded on a remote planet, Sempiria, while tracking the legendary "Five Aces" criminal syndicate. For over 600 years, Sempiria has been cut off from outside contact and no one has been able to leave it. In seeking to escape, Jordan discovers information about the history of the planet and its people, and fights hostile, blade-wielding robots.

Development

began developing ''Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet'' for the

after '' The Last of Us Part II''s release in 2020; more than 250 employees worked on the game.

leads development as

creative director A creative director is a person who makes high-level creative decisions; oversees the creation of creative assets such as advertisements, products, events, or logos; and directs and translates the creative people who produce the end results. Creat ...

and writer, alongside co-game directors Matthew Gallant and Kurt Margenau and narrative director Claire Carré. Druckmann revealed he was working on a new game at

Summer Game Fest Summer Game Fest is a live video game event organized and hosted by game journalist Geoff Keighley. The event takes place annually over multiple live streams during the North American summer period, the most notable of which is the "main show ...

in June 2022, and later said he was assembling a

writers' room A writers' room is a space where writers, usually of a television series, gather to write and refine scripts. It is a common method of writing television series in the US, but is much less widespread in countries like the UK. Composition The ...

to be "structured more like a TV show" than Naughty Dog's previous projects. The 2023 decision to cancel '' The Last of Us Online''s development was partly to avoid withholding resources from ''Intergalactic''. ''Intergalactic'' is set to start a new franchise for Naughty Dog, marking its first original story since ''

The Last of Us ''The Last of Us'' is a 2013 action-adventure game developed by Naughty Dog and published by Sony Computer Entertainment. Players control Joel, a smuggler tasked with escorting a teenage girl, Ellie, across a post-apocalyptic United States ...

'' (2013). According to Druckmann, the story explores "what happens when you put your faith in different institutions". It is centered on a fictional religion, and includes

science fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...

elements, taking inspiration from anime like '' Akira'' (1988) and ''

Cowboy Bebop is a 1998 Japanese neo-noir space Western anime television series that aired on TV Tokyo and Wowow from 1998 to 1999. It was created and animated by Sunrise (company), Sunrise, led by a production team of director Shinichirō Watanabe, ...

'' (1998). Applying techniques learned in creating ''

Uncharted ''Uncharted'' is an action-adventure video game series and media franchise published by Sony Interactive Entertainment and developed by Naughty Dog. Created by Amy Hennig, the ''Uncharted'' franchise follows a group of treasure hunters who trav ...

'' and ''

'', the developers sought to use the game's action and genre to "hide" a personal, philosophical narrative without the constraints of grounded reality. They created thousands of years of history for Sempiria's religion. They wanted the player to feel lost and alone, partly achieved by the lack of non-playable allies like other Naughty Dog games.

portrays Jordan; Druckmann considered her a standout during the casting process, comparing her audition to

Ashley Johnson Ashley Suzanne Johnson (born 1983) is an American actress. She became known as a child actor for her role as Chrissy Seaver on the sitcom ''Growing Pains'' (1990–1992). As an adult, her television roles include Amber Ahmed on '' The Killing' ...

's for ''The Last of Us''s

Ellie Ellie or Elly is a given name. The name stands on its own or can be a shortened form of any of the numerous female names beginning with the syllable El-, in particular Elizabeth, Eleanor, or Elvira. It can also be a short form of Elaine, Elena ...

. Gabrielle starred in the film ''

'' (2022) and the second season of ''

'' (2025), both of which are adaptations of Naughty Dog franchises. A spiritual person, she was drawn to ''Intergalactic'' due to its focus on faith. Halley Gross plays AJ, Jordan's agent. Members of the Five Aces include Colin Graves (portrayed by

Kumail Nanjiani Kumail Ali Nanjiani (; ; Urdu: کمیل علی نانجیانی; born May 2, 1978) is a Pakistani-American stand-up comedian and actor. He is known for his role as Dinesh in the HBO comedy series ''Silicon Valley'' (2014–2019) and for co-writi ...

) and unnamed members played by

Tony Dalton Álvaro Luis Bernat "Tony" Dalton (born February 13, 1975) is an American and Mexican actor. For much of his career, he has acted in Mexican films, television shows, and stage plays. He is best known for his portrayal of Lalo Salamanca in ''Bet ...

, Ashley Scott, and Stephen A. Chang. Dalton was cast after appearing in an episode of ''The Last of Us'' directed by Druckmann, who offered him the role immediately, while Scott portrayed Maria in ''The Last of Us'' and ''Part II'' and Chang played

Jesse Jesse may refer to: People * Jesse (biblical figure), father of David in the Bible * Jesse (given name), including a list of people * Jesse (surname), a list of people Music * ''Jesse'' (album), a 2003 album by Jesse Powell * "Jesse" (s ...

in the latter.

Troy Baker Troy Edward Baker (born April 1, 1976) is an American voice actor and musician. He is known for his numerous roles in video games, including Yuri Lowell in ''Tales of Vesperia'' (2008), Joel Miller in ''The Last of Us'' franchise, Booker DeWi ...

has been cast in an undisclosed role. The score is composed by

and

, the former's first full video game soundtrack since '' Quake'' (1996).

Promotion

trademarked ''Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet'' in February 2024. Naughty Dog revealed the game at

the Game Awards The Game Awards is an annual awards ceremony honoring achievements in the video game industry. Established in 2014, the shows are produced and hosted by game journalist Geoff Keighley. After working on its predecessor, the Spike Video Game Awar ...

on December 12, 2024, alongside its first trailer. Its trailer depicts Jordan watching anime, listening to 1980s music on a

Sony is a Japanese multinational conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at Sony City in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. The Sony Group encompasses various businesses, including Sony Corporation (electronics), Sony Semiconductor Solutions (i ...

CD player, flying a

Porsche Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG, usually shortened to Porsche (; see below), is a German automobile manufacturer specializing in luxury, high-performance sports cars, SUVs and sedans, headquartered in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Th ...

spaceship, and wearing

Adidas Adidas AG (; stylized in all lowercase since 1949) is a German athletic apparel and footwear corporation headquartered in Herzogenaurach, Bavaria, Germany. It is the largest sportswear manufacturer in Europe, and the second largest in the ...

sneakers. Druckmann spent time searching for an appropriate 1980s song about faith to use in the trailer, eventually selecting "

It's a Sin "It's a Sin" is a song by English synth-pop duo Pet Shop Boys from their second studio album, '' Actually'' (1987). Written by Chris Lowe and Neil Tennant, the song was released on 15 June 1987 as the album's lead single. It became the duo's ...

" by the

Pet Shop Boys Pet Shop Boys are an English synth-pop duo formed in London in 1981. Consisting of vocalist Neil Tennant and keyboardist Chris Lowe, they have sold more than 100 million records worldwide and were listed as the most successful duo in UK music h ...

. In March 2025, Druckmann said the team "still have a ways to go" with development. Jordan's jacket was added as a skin for Ellie in '' The Last of Us Part II Remastered'' on April 3, 2025.

References

External links

* {{portal bar, Science fiction, Video games Action-adventure games Alternate history video games Naughty Dog games PlayStation 5 games PlayStation 5-only games Science fiction video games Sony Interactive Entertainment games Upcoming video games Video games about bounty hunters Video games developed in the United States Video games featuring female protagonists Video games set on fictional planets Video games written by Neil Druckmann