Naughty Dog must avoid an unfortunate role reversal with their new IP

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Naughty dog is undoubtedly one of the leading development teams under the famous PlayStation banner. Acquired by Sony in 2001, Naughty Dog made a name for itself in its early days with the highly successful Crash Bandicoot and Jak and Daxter franchises. 2007 marked a turning point for Naughty Dog as the studio released Uncharted: Drake's Fortune that year and subsequently spawned the beloved treasure hunt series. Naughty Dog continued their winning streak into the following decade with 2013 The last of usyear 2016 Uncharted 4: A Thief's Endyear 2017 Uncharted: The Lost Legacyand finally, The last of us part 2 in 2020. Such a strong record is difficult for many PlayStation studios to match, let alone surpass.




However, there is one PlayStation first-party team that has been delivering hit after hit for years – Santa Monica Studio. Founded in 1999, the Santa Monica studio oversees the lauded God of War series for nearly two decades. As one of the longest running PlayStation franchises God of War has sold over 66 million copies as of November 2023. More impressively, not a single main line God of War the game fell below an 80% critic score on Metacritic, and the 2018 reboot of the series even took home the coveted Game of the Year award. It's commendable how Santa Monica Studio and Naughty Dog have kept their respective franchises fresh, but both teams must be aware of the large potential overlap in their rumored upcoming projects.

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Santa Monica Studio and Naughty Dog are reportedly developing a new Sci-Fi IP


After exclusively developed God of War games for nearly 20 years, Santa Monica finally has a new IP in the works. It was heavily rumored upon release God of War (2018)and Santa Monica Studio job offers in recent years have directly confirmed the development of a new IP. Interestingly, one of the Santa Monica studio's in-house teams had been working on a brand new sci-fi IP before God of War (2018)but unfortunately the project was cancelled. Therefore, there is some priority for Santa Monica Studio's upcoming new IP to include sci-fi elements as well, and potentially even carry over a lot of the work done for the canceled project.

Rather coincidentally, Naughty Dog is also working on a new IP after 17 years of switching between The last of us and Uncharted series. The secrecy surrounding Naughty Dog's new IP almost matches that of Santa Monica, but there are more rumors surrounding the former. First, Naughty Dog president Neil Druckmann is heavily rumored to be directing the new IP, and reports claim it could feature a great deal of player freedom. Naughty Dog's new IP might also be its next game The last of us 3. However, the genre of Naughty Dog's new IP remains unknown, with rumors pointing to either fantasy or sci-fi. Naughty Dog fans are leaning towards the latter, as many of them believe The last of us part 2'with Savage Starlight comic book collectibles may have hinted at a new sci-fi game from the studio.


Sharing the sci-fi genre can lead to a disadvantageous situation for Naughty Dog and Santa Monica Studio

While PlayStation fans are delighted at the prospect of a brand new sci-fi IP from two of the brand's most decorated first-party studios, this potential genre overlap could prove to be a disadvantage for Naughty Dog or Santa Monica Studio. To add context, a situation similar to the one we are facing could occur Days gone in 2019. Bend Studio's Open Zombie Horde launched at a time when the open-world and zombie genres were flooding the market. Bend Studio tried to differentiate Days gone from other zombie games, but it didn't slow down the comparison much The last of us. Plus edition The last of us part 2 a little more than a year later, he dimmed the flashing spotlight even more Days gone.


So if Naughty Dog and Santa Monica Studio are indeed working on new sci-fi IPs, the one that hits the market first could become the benchmark for fans, and the one that comes out later may suffer by comparison. In addition, the sci-fi genre has grown substantially with recent high-profile releases such as Star field, Warhammer 40K: Space Marines 2, Outer worldsand more as well as upcoming games like Judas, Mass Effect 4, Directive 8020etc., so there will be plenty of third-party rivalry between Santa Monica Studio and Naughty Dog for years to come. What their games end up looking like remains to be seen, but given the sheer breadth of the sci-fi genre, Santa Monica Studio and Naughty Dog could come up with remarkably different experiences.

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