The Last of Us Part 1 is out now and has been getting rave reviews for its complete overhaul of the original game. But eagle-eyed fans have spotted something more to get excited about as well. According to them, a few posters pinned to some walls in the game seem to be teasing the next game from developer Naughty Dog.
Based on these posters, it’s speculated that the company’s next IP will have a fantasy theme. This has been inferred from the presence of a pegasus, a dragon, and a female warrior in the pictures pinned to the walls in The Last of Us Part 1.
Over on Reddit, people have unearthed newer details to support this speculation. Back in 2021, Naughty Dog’s senior concept artist Hyoung Taek Nam uploaded three new pieces of artwork to their ArtStation account. Now this post was titled “The Women of North” and featured a female warrior, sitting on a slain dragon.
At that time people were quick to see this as a hint of the company’s new IP, which eventually prompted Nam to deny the conjecture, saying that these pieces were a homage to Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla. Fans though quickly pointed to the fact that the Ubisoft game does not have any dragons.
Another factor that’s worth considering is that The Last of Us itself was teased via in-game assets in Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception. If this new fantasy game turns out to be true, it will be Naughty Dog’s third big IP in the modern era.
Needless to say, there is still a lot of time before we actually get any clarity on the matter. For now, The Last of Us Part 1 is the lates offering from the studio and is the best way to experience the critically acclaimed first game from the series.