Naughty Dog’s Neil Druckmann has reiterated that the upcoming Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End will be the final game in the series to star Nathan Drake.
Speaking with The Sun, Druckmann indicated that Drake may meet his demise in the upcoming action-adventure romp, suggesting it would be ‘really hard’ to do a sequel following the events of the PlayStation 4-exclusive sequel.
"With the end of this story, it will be really hard to do a sequel with Nathan Drake,” said Druckmann. "Maybe there’ll be a prequel, maybe it will be a different character, I don’t know. But this is the end for Nathan Drake.
"We’ve been with this character for so long," he continued, "He’s at the height of his popularity, so it’s not a good business decision. But I feel like the best way to honour him is to go out on top, to finish his story."
Naughty Dog has said on numerous occasions that Uncharted 4 will be the final chapter for Nate, and has admitted it is difficult to imagine continuing the franchise without him. While the California-based studio is keeping mum on its next project, it has revealed that it has at least one more title in store for PS4 going forward.
Uncharted 4 was originally scheduled to launch on March 18, though was pushed to late April just before Christmas. The game takes place three years after the events of Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception, with Nate coming out of retirement as a fortune hunter to track down a legendary pirate’s treasure in Madagascar.
In addition to the single-player campaign, Uncharted 4 will also incorporate a full multiplayer suite, which introduces a number of new features, including AI-controlled teammates and the introduction of mystical elements to use against your opponents. Naughty Dog has confirmed that the multiplayer will run at 900p/60fps.
Check out the latest footage of Uncharted 4 to see how it’s shaping up.