Uncharted reboot rumours sound true but contradict A Thief's End

An Uncharted leak suggests that a new studio is taking on the Uncharted franchise after five entries with PlayStation Studio Naughty Dog. The next game is allegedly a reboot, something that could contradict A Thief's End finale.

If you've got all the Uncharted 4 A Thief's End trophies, we think you'll understand our thoughts around some of the speculations. Allegedly, Naughty Dog will only be assisting the new PlayStation Studio Visual Arts with an Uncharted reboot so the franchise can once again compete amongst the best PS5 games.

Uncharted 4 A Thiefs End's finale has given us a clear indication of where the series might go.

Legendary PlayStation exclusive action-adventure series set to return

Coming from the comically on-brand website The Leak, whom have been accurate before though still take this with a grain of salt, the information is thus: "According to two independent sources, Sony decided to reboot the series earlier this year before handing it to an unknown developer. However, Naughty Dog is expected to initially assist the new team." The final nugget of information is that, supposedly, "the development is still in its infancy."

Reliable Insider Tom Henderson over on Insider Gaming couldn't corroborate, but did note that there have been "rumblings" in his corner of the leaky bathtub. Indeed, without the need for leaks, earlier this year Naughty Dog's next game was outed via a PlayStation Visual Studios job posting that stated: "an exciting new project with Naughty Dog in a beloved franchise." It looks the new rumour might be the project here, one that was allegedly being worked on during senior developer Micheal Mumbauer's tenure at Visual Arts before the team got sidetracked by the Last of Us Part 1 and Mumbauer left. So, actually, the "unknown studio" from the new leak is Visual Arts and the "beloved franchise" from the first job listing is Uncharted.

More Uncharted 4 imagery for you

Uncharted 4 spoilers to follow

The new leak also proposes two routes for the series based on speculation: "Either rebooting with a young Nathan Drake set to explore new adventures. Or with a new character but with a cameo from Drake." However, we think that this somewhat contradicts the narrative that Naughty Dog put in place in the final Uncharted 4 chapter. It looks like the team is very keen on setting up Drake and Elena's daughter Cassie as a future protagonist. She hunts around all of her father's treasures in the final scene and it is clear she is a history buff keen to go on her own adventures, following in the footsteps of her parents. Indeed, we know Sam Drake, Chloe Fraser, and Nadine Ross are now a team hunting down treasures from the end of The Lost Legacy — we would be surprised if Cassie Drake isn't bedded into that group (excuse us, that was last bit was a bit fan fictiony).

A new protagonist would be cool though, or a Casino Royale-style tonal shift would be a fun choice — though we know not all gamers take franchise changes well. What would you think about a reboot, character swap, or story continuation? Any path you'd set the course for? Let us know in the comments!

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Written by Sean Lawson

Sean is a Staff Writer with a focus on the geekiest Sony news. He writes stories about unobtainable PlayStation trophies, the best PS Plus games, as well as RPGs and Fighting games. He is also excited for Tekken 8, Dragon Age Dreadwolf, and Cyberpunk 2077 Phantom Liberty to launch on PS5. Sean’s favourite games include Mass Effect, Tomb Raider, Tekken, and Persona.