Neil Druckmann Aims to Make New Game 'Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet' Confusing and Disorienting

Neil Druckmann, the director behind the critically acclaimed The Last of Us, has recently shed more light on Naughty Dog's highly anticipated upcoming game, Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet. In a revealing interview with Alex Garland, the writer of the iconic zombie movie 28 Days Later, Druckmann provided insights into the game's four-year development journey.

Druckmann humorously reflected on the mixed reception of The Last of Us 2, stating, "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?" 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 introduces players to an alternate historical timeline where a "pretty prominent religion" has evolved significantly over time. The game stars Jordan A. Mun as Tati Gabrielle, who must navigate this complex world and utilize her skills and intelligence to become the first person in centuries to escape its orbit.

Druckmann teased the game's setting, 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." He emphasized the game's focus on isolation and discovery, stating, "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."

Last week, Neil Druckmann and Craig Mazin, showrunners for The Last of Us Season 2, confirmed that "spores are back" after being omitted from Season 1. At SXSW 2025, Druckmann discussed the evolution of the infected in the series, saying, "There is an escalation of numbers and types of infected, but also, as you see in the trailer, an escalation of the vector of how this thing spreads. 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."

In related news, actress Kaitlyn Dever discussed playing Abby in The Last of Us Season 2, admitting the challenge of resisting the urge to check online reactions to her performance.