Rumors surrounding Bend Studios and Naughty Dog working on an unannounced project have surfaced on the internet recently. Both studios are well-known for having worked on zombie survival titles for PlayStation exclusively. Moreover, the rumor started spreading after Adam Lawson, former Senior Animator at Bend Studio, shared his experiences on LinkedIn.
Bend Studio and Naughty Dog are both Sony-owned studios, that have released great titles like The Last of Us, Days Gone, Uncharted, and more. But, all these titles have been released by the studios individually and they have never collaborated before. Thus, fans are curious as to what kind of title they will come up with if both studios work together.
Adam Lawson’s experience list on Linkedin has excited the fanbase, as it mentions him working with Naughty Dog on an unannounced project during his tenure at Bend Studios. Fans took notice of this and started speculating what might be in store for them. Rumors suggest the studio can work on Days Gone 2, which was previously canceled internally. Moreover, since Naughty Dog is well experienced with the zombie-survival genre, Bend Studio could use the knowledge for a sequel. However, readers should keep in mind that there has been no indication of the project’s revival.
Alternatively, the idea of a The Last of Us sequel has also been explored. In fact, Naughty Dog recently canceled The Last of Us Online to focus on single-player PlayStation exclusives and even revealed that they were working on several unannounced AAA experiences. Besides, there were also rumors regarding an Uncharted Reboot story, and there is a high chance Naughty Dog might collaborate with Bend Studios on that.
Nevertheless, people should keep in mind that games keep getting canceled internally, and it could be possible that the IP Bend Studios and Naughty Dog have collaborated on might never see the light of day. Nevertheless, fans should stay hopeful as Adam did mention that the project is still unannounced, and it could even be a completely new IP Sony has never talked of previously.
A LinkedIn job update might have just leaked Sony’s latest secret on the next PlayStation exclusive
Former Senior Gameplay Animator of Bend Studio, Adam Lawson updated his profile stating that he collaborated on an unannounced project with Naughty Dog while at the Sony-owned studio. However, he has since left Bend to join Archetype Entertainment and many believe Sony made him sign an NDA contract, prohibiting him from speaking about the IP he was working on.
Sony has always been secretive with their IPs, especially when it involves a collaboration of two of their biggest studios. Until a project is announced to the masses, the organization does its best to keep it a secret. Nevertheless, despite all the efforts Sony has put in, this mention on Adam’s LinkedIn profile proves that the two major studios are working together, which is enough to hype fans. Moreover, the Insomniac Games leak fiasco has also made us wonder how long Sony can keep this project a secret.
In an official update from Naughty Dog, it was mentioned that they have given up on the live-service game to focus on putting resources on post-launch content in years to come. The announcement even mentioned, “We have more than one ambitious, brand new single-player game.” Those projects haven’t been named yet, but the studio reaffirmed the decision to upkeep their single-player heritage. As for Bend Studio, their next project will be released in 2025, as learned from an accidental reveal on Hung Nguy’s ArtStation page.
