• Some users have recently had their accounts hijacked. It seems that the now defunct EVGA forums might have compromised your password there and seems many are using the same PW here. We would suggest you UPDATE YOUR PASSWORD and TURN ON 2FA for your account here to further secure it. None of the compromised accounts had 2FA turned on.
    Once you have enabled 2FA, your account will be updated soon to show a badge, letting other members know that you use 2FA to protect your account. This should be beneficial for everyone that uses FSFT.

Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet (Naughty Dog)

P

polonyc2

Fully [H]
2FA
Joined
Oct 25, 2004
Messages
30,303
Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet is the newest franchise in development for the PlayStation 5 console from Naughty Dog, the studio behind acclaimed series like The Last of Us and Uncharted

set thousands of years in the future, Intergalactic puts players into the role of Jordan A. Mun, a dangerous bounty hunter who ends up stranded on Sempiria – a distant planet whose communication with the outside universe went dark hundreds of years ago...Jordan will have to use all her skills and wits if she hopes to be the first person in over 600 years to leave its orbit...


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o7TVPoxwi74
 
The other PC threads were created when the games were announced or rumored at least, best wait until then before it get buried for a year after the first few pages are just speculating and off-topic ranting like that one is already doing.

I kept saying I wanted ND to create a sci-fi game in space, but def not for a "modern audience" as this one definitely is. I wanted something more akin to Dead Space with more complex characters, plot, and the ND level production values.

You can definitely tell this game started development in 2020 with an adult Lev from TLoU 2 and it will be hilarious if they put another angry lesbian as the protagonist. So hoping this is just a huge misdirection as ND likes to do, else I see them pulling another Concord with this one. Western studios need to learn that minority characters are going to bring minority audiences and sales. I'm not interested in playing as a masculine female girl-boss. I don't mind playing as a female either, as I loved the Horizon games, Tomb Raiders, RE2/3, etc, but they're all still feminine characters and are relatable to the mostly straight white male audiences that play them.
 
  • Like
Reactions: M76
like this
Keep in mind, Sony approved this trailer for release...after Concord. What are they smoking there? The 697 will be very happy though.
 
polonyc2 said:
it's officially announced for PS5 but it's a virtual certainty that it'll also come to PC like all other big Sony releases...same way there are posts for Horizon Zero Dawn, Forbidden West, Spider-Man etc
Click to expand...
if and when it come, then make a thread. right now it will be console only and this thread is where all the discussion should be. but you know that...
 
polonyc2 said:
Naughty Dog confirmed today that principal performance capture on Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet has officially wrapped, marking a significant production milestone for the studio's first new franchise since The Last of Us...

https://x.com/Naughty_Dog/status/2094462799560810866
Click to expand...
So they weren't even at alpha yet when they revealed the game. They really need to stop announcing games so early. I don't see a release happening until 2028, but more than likely not until 2029.
 
M76 said:
I was surprised by this too, unless it was reshoots (or remocaps in this case).

It's cute that they are calling it a franchise though, they really believe this will catch on?
Click to expand...
Naughty Dog hasn't had a financial flop.....maybe ever?
 
chameleoneel said:
Naughty Dog hasn't had a financial flop.....maybe ever?
Click to expand...
That doesn't change the writing on the wall.

And I never said it will be a financial flop. There is a wide scale between concord level flop and franchise spawning success.

Technically TLOU2 can already be called a flop compared to expectations. If it were a huge hit you can bet they would have started working on TLOU3 without delay. At this stage I doubt that will ever happen. The only person who occasionally brings it up is Neil Druckmann, probably in a desperate ploy so sony execs don't completely forget about it.
 
M76 said:
That doesn't change the writing on the wall.

And I never said it will be a financial flop. There is a wide scale between concord level flop and franchise spawning success.

Technically TLOU2 can already be called a flop compared to expectations. If it were a huge hit you can bet they would have started working on TLOU3 without delay. At this stage I doubt that will ever happen. The only person who occasionally brings it up is Neil Druckmann, probably in a desperate ploy so sony execs don't completely forget about it.
Click to expand...
Not sure where you are getting this idea it was a failure.

Its sales numbers in its first 3 days, beat every other major Sony game to that point. God Of War, Spiderman, as well as Naughty Dog's own Uncharted 4. And of course, TLoU1. And it sold 10 million copies in about two years. As an exclusive.

It did not become an evergreen entry, like God of War 2018 and Spiderman have. So, lifetime sales not as good a those.

So....what? the writing's on the wall for Naughty Dog, Because they had a game which didn't crack 20 million sold? Even as probably an overall lesser sequel, relative to Sony's other relevant brands: it still sold pretty dang good. and as of 2023 (only 3 years after release), was Playstation publishing's 13th best selling game of all time (while still only quoting the 10million sold, from 2022). and we know that since then, there's been a remaster, and a TV show, which brought in a few million more sales.
1788596850687.png



IMO, they also made a large mistake, by not offering a PS5 version/remastered version, for 5 years. When the game only launched in 2020, just barely ahead of the PS5.
It was likely due to the studio being distracted by a live service game, which they canned after spending years on it. and then the TV show likely allowed a push to refresh a gaming product for the brand-----so, we finally got the obvious, very late remaster. Intergalactic was also delayed as a whole project, due to the live service game.

And I'm willing to bet TLOUII's remaster may have been more ambitious, more like a remake: had they not been set back by the live service focus.
 
Last edited:
chameleoneel said:
Not sure where you are getting this idea it was a failure.
Click to expand...
I have explained this several times in various topics already, but it's worth repeating.
Its sales numbers in its first 3 days, beat every other major Sony game to that point
Click to expand...

Yes TLOU2 sales were very front loaded, because it was a greatly anticipated game, due to the success of the first game that was selling millions of copies even after years.
It did not become an evergreen entry,
Click to expand...

And why do you think that is? Because people were disappointed in the game and it got terrible word of mouth, and even those who initially liked it has soured on it. It's sales fell off like a brick. Sony expected it not just to match TLOU sales but leave them in the dust.
So....what? the writing's on the wall for Naughty Dog, Because they had a game which didn't crack 20 million sold?
Click to expand...

Despite your dismissive sarcastic tone I think you see it very clearly, and that's what makes you angry. They are coming off of a game that left a very negative impression on the majority of gamers. They are at a much lower level of trust than they had before TLOU2.

And they are pushing a title that evokes nothing but contempt from most interested parties. The only people cheering for this game are the shills, and anti gamergate political pundits. I have never seen a single person being genuinely excited for this game for the right reasons (ie. interested in the story or the gameplay). The overt product placement and flexing references it absolutely did not earn also hasn't helped.

I expect this to be a veilguard level failure, so not a complete concord, but far bellow what they need it to do. And it won't help one bit to repair the trust that was lost due to TLOU2, in fact it will only make it worse.
chameleoneel said:
and we know that since then, there's been a remaster, and a TV show, which brought in a few million more sales.
Click to expand...
I feel sorry for those people who bought TLOU2 after the first season of the show. Imagine the disappointment. I doubt's they'll be lining up to get intergalactic.
chameleoneel said:
Intergalactic was also delayed as a whole project,
Click to expand...
Which could only have helped it, had they not doubled down on showing the middle finger to gamers.
chameleoneel said:
And I'm willing to bet TLOUII's remaster may have been more ambitious, more like a remake: had they not be set back by the live service focus.
Click to expand...
It's a modern game, it didn't need a remake, do you really want game developers making remakes of <5yr old games? That is insanity.
 
M76 said:
I have explained this several times in various topics already, but it's worth repeating.


Yes TLOU2 sales were very front loaded, because it was a greatly anticipated game, due to the success of the first game that was selling millions of copies even after years.


And why do you think that is? Because people were disappointed in the game and it got terrible word of mouth, and even those who initially liked it has soured on it. It's sales fell off like a brick. Sony expected it not just to match TLOU sales but leave them in the dust.


Despite your dismissive sarcastic tone I think you see it very clearly, and that's what makes you angry. They are coming off of a game that left a very negative impression on the majority of gamers. They are at a much lower level of trust than they had before TLOU2.

And they are pushing a title that evokes nothing but contempt from most interested parties. The only people cheering for this game are the shills, and anti gamergate political pundits. I have never seen a single person being genuinely excited for this game for the right reasons (ie. interested in the story or the gameplay). The overt product placement and flexing references it absolutely did not earn also hasn't helped.

I expect this to be a veilguard level failure, so not a complete concord, but far bellow what they need it to do. And it won't help one bit to repair the trust that was lost due to TLOU2, in fact it will only make it worse.

I feel sorry for those people who bought TLOU2 after the first season of the show. Imagine the disappointment. I doubt's they'll be lining up to get intergalactic.

Which could only have helped it, had they not doubled down on showing the middle finger to gamers.

It's a modern game, it didn't need a remake, do you really want game developers making remakes of <5yr old games? That is insanity.
Click to expand...
You are ignoring the sales data.

With only two years of sales data, it became Playstation's 13th best selling game of all time. Beating out some all time revered games published by Playstation.
And since then, its had a remaster and a TV show. Wich have driven more purchases.
Using that same list, its likely that right now, after about 6 years: TLOUII would be more like #8 on that list. Which then puts it into even more interesting/special territory---If you look and think about everything it is surpassing on sales.

M76 said:
I have never seen a single person being genuinely excited for this game for the right reasons (ie. interested in the story or the gameplay).
Click to expand...
I don't even care that much about TLOU. I've only played a couple hours of the first game------back when we all had Playstation 3. Personally, I didn't find the gameplay interesting. And I don't usually like post-apocalyptic stories where a big aspect of the world building, is that all of the humans always want to kill each other and steal from each other.
Similarly, I've heard about some scenes in TLOUII, which are what I would refer to as "Torture Porn". And for me, that's not my kind of entertainment.

I've never played TLOUII.

And even I can tell you, its REALLY EASY to find people saying that TLOUII is the best 3rd person shooting gameplay, ever.
And if we look around the industry, a whole lot of games have copied aspects from previous Naughty Dog games. including other major IP. There's really no reason to think Intergalactic won't have some pretty well regarded gameplay.


As far as the story goes-----I'm not the best person for analyzing teaser tailers and reading between the lines. But....It looks to me like the game is about a group of successful, infamous outlaws whom were very close friends in life and their business. But.....maybe one of them sold everyone out, resulting in the deaths or serious injuries to the other members.
And the main character may be trying to hunt that guy down. Assuming that's somewhat close to correct-----the teaser/reveal trailer seems to setup something pretty cool.


M76 said:
The overt product placement and flexing references it absolutely did not earn also hasn't helped.
Click to expand...

seems to me like there is a very vocal group of people whom want this to fail.

Regarding the "flexing references it did not earn": Naughty Dog are one of the most successful developers in gaming history, with some extremely iconic IP under their belt: I think its ok for ND to name drop some other IP (Akira, Cobwboy Bebop), to help us understand the goals for their own new IP.
But there's also more going on there, than the influences they actually named. For example, Jordan's clothing and sword weapon, are extremely similar to Travis Touchdown, from No More Heroes. And Travis Touchdown himself, rides an Akira style motorcycle.


Regarding product placement: Sure, from a standpoint of artistic purity: we don't like product plaement, as a rule.
However, Druckman said that after Naughty Dog's layoffs and re-org, they had to understand that ultimately, they are running a business. And how to strike a balance between driving and creating interesting IP, while also paying the bills.

As one of the most successful developers in gaming history, brands are going to want to work with them. And what we see in the reveal trailer, is fine, to me. We'll see how it goes in the final game. But, people gotta wear shoes (Adidas). It doesn't bother me that Jordan's spaceship is a Porsche.
And retro/future seems to be a fundamental aspect of the world they are creating. So, sure: the CD changer built into the dash of the spaceship, is a SONY player. This is all very natural stuff, so far. And it helps them fund this very expensive game.
 
Last edited:
chameleoneel said:
You are ignoring the sales data.
Click to expand...
No, the opposite: I'm looking at it closer than you. You're just listing off total sales from a flawed list that for some reason only includes PS3 sales for TLOU, completely skewing the picture making it seem like TLOU2 outsold it.

I'm looking at the time distribution of sales as well. TLOU1 started slower, but it remained a strong seller for a long time. TLOU2 had record number of pre-orders and first week sales, then it fell off very quickly. A year later almost nobody was buying that game.
chameleoneel said:
Using that same list, its likely that right now, after about 6 years: TLOUII would be more like #8 on that list. Which then puts it into even more interesting/special territory---If you look and think about everything it is surpassing on sales.
Click to expand...
You really believe you can just draw sales as a linear graph that is constant over time? No wonder you don't get what I'm talking about it being front loaded.
chameleoneel said:
I don't even care that much about TLOU. I've only played a couple hours of the first game------back when we all had Playstation 3. Personally, I didn't find the gameplay interesting. And I don't usually like post-apocalyptic stories where a big aspect of the world building, is that all of the humans always want to kill each other and steal from each other.
Similarly, I've heard about some scenes in TLOUII, which are what I would refer to as "Torture Porn". And for me, that's not my kind of entertainment.

I've never played TLOUII.
Click to expand...
I press X for Doubt. Usually when people have to insist they don't even care it means the opposite, I think you do care but want to appear as an unbiased party.
chameleoneel said:
And even I can tell you, its REALLY EASY to find people saying that TLOUII is the best 3rd person shooting gameplay, ever.
Click to expand...
Congratulations, you found me, I'm one of those people. Is this relevant?
chameleoneel said:
And if we look around the industry, a whole lot of games have copied aspects from previous Naughty Dog games. including other major IP. There's really no reason to think Intergalactic won't have some pretty well regarded gameplay.
Click to expand...
I have no doubt it will have competently made gameplay. The problem is nobody seems to be interested in the gameplay due to the other controversial choices.
chameleoneel said:
As far as the story goes-----I'm not the best person for analyzing teaser tailers and reading between the lines. But....It looks to me like the game is about a group of successful, infamous outlaws whom were very close friends in life and their business. But.....maybe one of them sold everyone out, resulting in the deaths or serious injuries to the other members.
And the main character may be trying to hunt that guy down. Assuming that's somewhat close to correct-----the teaser/reveal trailer seems to setup something pretty cool.
Click to expand...
All signs point to it setting up more torture porn. With a protagonist nobody excited to play as. TLOU2 at least had the pretense that you'll be playing as Joel or Ellie for the majority of the game.
chameleoneel said:
seems to me like there is a very vocal group of people whom want this to fail.
Click to expand...
seems to me like there is a very vocal group of people who want to ignore all the red flags and pretend this is fine.
chameleoneel said:
Regarding the "flexing references it did not earn": Naughty Dog are one of the most successful developers in gaming history, with some extremely iconic IP under their belt: I think its ok for ND to name drop some other IP (Akira, Cobwboy Bebop), to help us understand the goals for their own new IP.
But there's also more going on there, than the influences they actually named. For example, Jordan's clothing and sword weapon, are extremely similar to Travis Touchdown, from No More Heroes. And Travis Touchdown himself, rides an Akira style motorcycle.
Click to expand...
That only makes it worse that they need borrowed plumes to get people excited.
chameleoneel said:
Regarding product placement: Sure, from a standpoint of artistic purity: we don't like product plaement, as a rule.
However, Druckman said that after Naughty Dog's layoffs and re-org, they had to understand that ultimately, they are running a business. And how to strike a balance between driving and creating interesting IP, while also paying the bills.
Click to expand...
I can tell you they obviously didn't strike a good balance. It was so overt and out of place. Even CP2077's Porsche product placement was pushing it a bit for me, but that was like a 2/10 compared to this.
chameleoneel said:
As one of the most successful developers in gaming history, brands are going to want to work with them. And what we see in the reveal trailer, is fine, to me. We'll see how it goes in the final game. But, people gotta wear shoes (Adidas). It doesn't bother me that Jordan's spaceship is a Porsche.
And retro/future seems to be a fundamental aspect of the world they are creating. So, sure: the CD changer built into the dash of the spaceship, is a SONY player. This is all very natural stuff, so far. And it helps them fund this very expensive game.
Click to expand...
I didn't even know yet how right I was going to be when I wrote: "people who want to ignore all the red flags and pretend this is fine"
 
  • Like
Reactions: T4rd
like this
My expectations for this game is very low, unless Druckmann gets fired early enough to leave time to fix all of the storyline / character development problems he creates. This is surely his last chance, but considering the money losing slop that Sony has been signing off on this console generation, it would probably take new leadership at Sony to force new leadership at Naughty Dog. I really do feel genuinely sorry for the talented people that have to work under him.

Here is an estimate from chatgpt of how much money Sony blew on the cancelled The Last of Us Online. (It must have been worse than Concord to be cancelled before release having already cost 200-300 million dollars.)

My best estimate is that The Last of Us Online probably consumed around US$200–300 million before Naughty Dog cancelled it, with ~US$250 million being a reasonable midpoint.

That estimate is stronger now than it would have been a few years ago because new reporting in August 2026 says Bloomberg journalist Jason Schreier described the cancelled project as having cost “hundreds of millions of dollars”and said it was not a small side project: much of Naughty Dog was working either on it or on remasters/remakes during the early 2020s.

Why ~$250 million makes sense​

The comparison with The Last of Us Part II is particularly useful. Sony's own court documents revealed that Part IIcost approximately $220 million in development costs, took about 70 months, and peaked at roughly 200 full-time Naughty Dog employees. Marketing was separate from that figure.

The Last of Us Online appears to have been comparable in scale:

FactorThe Last of Us Part IIThe Last of Us Online
Development period~5.8 years~7 years
CompletionReleased~80%
Known development cost~$220mNot officially disclosed
StaffingPeak ~200 internal staffReportedly a major portion of Naughty Dog
Online/server infrastructureLimitedSignificant
Live-service systemsNoExtensive
Marketing expenditureSignificantProbably relatively limited
Former game director Vinit Agarwal said in April 2026 that he worked on the multiplayer project for nearly seven years and that it was about 80% complete when it was cancelled.

Naughty Dog itself confirms that the multiplayer team had already been working on it during development of The Last of Us Part II. The project subsequently expanded so much that Naughty Dog concluded releasing and maintaining it would effectively require the studio to devote itself to live-service development for years.

So I would roughly break the possibilities down as:

  • US$150–200m: possible low-end estimate, but increasingly difficult to reconcile with Schreier's “hundreds of millions” description.
  • US$200–250m: very plausible.
  • US$250–300m: also very plausible if external contractors, infrastructure, tools and the heavy 2020–2023 production period are included.
  • US$300m+: possible, but I wouldn't claim it without better evidence.
  • My midpoint: ≈ US$250m.

But Naughty Dog didn't literally lose every dollar​

There is an important accounting distinction.

If $250 million was spent, the financial write-off isn't necessarily exactly $250 million. Naughty Dog explicitly said that some of the technology, tools and development lessons created for the multiplayer game would carry over into its future projects.

So I would estimate something like:

Gross development expenditure: ~$200–300m

Effectively stranded/written-off development value: perhaps ~$175–250m

Best single estimate of money effectively lost: ≈ US$225m

There is then a second, harder-to-measure cost: opportunity cost. If hundreds of Naughty Dog developers spent years on The Last of Us Online instead of Intergalactic or another single-player game, Sony potentially delayed revenue from those games by several years. Schreier's recent reporting indicates that Intergalactic did not receive the majority of Naughty Dog's workforce until after The Last of Us Online was cancelled.

If you include that lost time and delayed revenue, the true economic cost to Sony could plausibly be considerably more than $250 million.

Bottom line: I'd put Naughty Dog/Sony's direct loss from cancelling The Last of Us Online at roughly US$200–250 million, against perhaps US$200–300 million actually spent on the project.

If you'd like, I can also compare this loss with Concord, Marathon, Bungie's cancelled projects, and Sony's other failed/cancelled live-service games to estimate how much Sony's whole live-service push has cost.
Click to expand...
 
chameleoneel said:
You are ignoring the sales data.

With only two years of sales data, it became Playstation's 13th best selling game of all time. Beating out some all time revered games published by Playstation.
And since then, its had a remaster and a TV show. Wich have driven more purchases.
Using that same list, its likely that right now, after about 6 years: TLOUII would be more like #8 on that list. Which then puts it into even more interesting/special territory---If you look and think about everything it is surpassing on sales.


I don't even care that much about TLOU. I've only played a couple hours of the first game------back when we all had Playstation 3. Personally, I didn't find the gameplay interesting. And I don't usually like post-apocalyptic stories where a big aspect of the world building, is that all of the humans always want to kill each other and steal from each other.
Similarly, I've heard about some scenes in TLOUII, which are what I would refer to as "Torture Porn". And for me, that's not my kind of entertainment.

I've never played TLOUII.

And even I can tell you, its REALLY EASY to find people saying that TLOUII is the best 3rd person shooting gameplay, ever.
And if we look around the industry, a whole lot of games have copied aspects from previous Naughty Dog games. including other major IP. There's really no reason to think Intergalactic won't have some pretty well regarded gameplay.


As far as the story goes-----I'm not the best person for analyzing teaser tailers and reading between the lines. But....It looks to me like the game is about a group of successful, infamous outlaws whom were very close friends in life and their business. But.....maybe one of them sold everyone out, resulting in the deaths or serious injuries to the other members.
And the main character may be trying to hunt that guy down. Assuming that's somewhat close to correct-----the teaser/reveal trailer seems to setup something pretty cool.




seems to me like there is a very vocal group of people whom want this to fail.

Regarding the "flexing references it did not earn": Naughty Dog are one of the most successful developers in gaming history, with some extremely iconic IP under their belt: I think its ok for ND to name drop some other IP (Akira, Cobwboy Bebop), to help us understand the goals for their own new IP.
But there's also more going on there, than the influences they actually named. For example, Jordan's clothing and sword weapon, are extremely similar to Travis Touchdown, from No More Heroes. And Travis Touchdown himself, rides an Akira style motorcycle.


Regarding product placement: Sure, from a standpoint of artistic purity: we don't like product plaement, as a rule.
However, Druckman said that after Naughty Dog's layoffs and re-org, they had to understand that ultimately, they are running a business. And how to strike a balance between driving and creating interesting IP, while also paying the bills.

As one of the most successful developers in gaming history, brands are going to want to work with them. And what we see in the reveal trailer, is fine, to me. We'll see how it goes in the final game. But, people gotta wear shoes (Adidas). It doesn't bother me that Jordan's spaceship is a Porsche.
And retro/future seems to be a fundamental aspect of the world they are creating. So, sure: the CD changer built into the dash of the spaceship, is a SONY player. This is all very natural stuff, so far. And it helps them fund this very expensive game.
Click to expand...
Including remasters and rereleases, The Last of Us Part II sold 12 million copies. The Last of Us sold over 37 million. That is a 67.6% decline in sales. Original releases only? 10.3 million vs. 12.7 million. So not as bad with an 18.9% decline, but I think sales of the remasters illustrate that far more people care about the original game compared to the sequel (2 million vs. 18.6 million, or an 89.2% drop).
 
TLoU Part 2 pretty clearly enjoyed most of its sales success on the coat tails of the first game. This is evidenced by almost half of its total sales being within the first 3 days of launch (I was one of those sales unfortunately). Once many players saw the rug-pull of swapping Joel for a masculine looking butch woman and all the other leftist propaganda they put into the game, it clearly had an affect on lasting sales keeping it from coming anywhere close to the first game.

The same things happened to the second season of the show that follows Part 2; views tanked significantly. This is pretty clearly a case of most fans rejecting their decisions on Part 2's story, esp. since Part 2 was a huge improvement on the first game in every other way (esp. game play).

This guy just recently hit on this as well and is pretty relevant to the conversation here. Showing that Intergalactic is likely to be an overall sales bust in terms of their sales expectations. But likely to at least be a little profitable overall, which they'll keep using to justify future titles that are still morally and politically compromised.


View: https://youtu.be/W4XzPtA30DA?is=tFGweUHXhOt7mmQF
 
Last edited:
Armenius said:
Including remasters and rereleases, The Last of Us Part II sold 12 million copies. The Last of Us sold over 37 million. That is a 67.6% decline in sales. Original releases only? 10.3 million vs. 12.7 million. So not as bad with an 18.9% decline, but I think sales of the remasters illustrate that far more people care about the original game compared to the sequel (2 million vs. 18.6 million, or an 89.2% drop).
Click to expand...

I'm glad you pointed out the original release numbers...which shows only a slight drop...the original had a ton of re-releases so it's not a fair comparison...the remaster numbers don't necessarily prove anything beyond the fact that the first game was more critically acclaimed...the 2nd game didn't need a remaster so many people probably didn't bother...yes Part 2 was more divisive but it wasn't a failure...it's good to see Naughty Dog taking chances and not playing it safe

Heretic is going to sell really well...it's the first new ip from Naughty Dog in a long time
 
chameleoneel said:
Not sure where you are getting this idea it was a failure.

Its sales numbers in its first 3 days, beat every other major Sony game to that point. God Of War, Spiderman, as well as Naughty Dog's own Uncharted 4. And of course, TLoU1. And it sold 10 million copies in about two years. As an exclusive.

It did not become an evergreen entry, like God of War 2018 and Spiderman have. So, lifetime sales not as good a those.

So....what? the writing's on the wall for Naughty Dog, Because they had a game which didn't crack 20 million sold? Even as probably an overall lesser sequel, relative to Sony's other relevant brands: it still sold pretty dang good. and as of 2023 (only 3 years after release), was Playstation publishing's 13th best selling game of all time (while still only quoting the 10million sold, from 2022). and we know that since then, there's been a remaster, and a TV show, which brought in a few million more sales.
View attachment 823986


IMO, they also made a large mistake, by not offering a PS5 version/remastered version, for 5 years. When the game only launched in 2020, just barely ahead of the PS5.
It was likely due to the studio being distracted by a live service game, which they canned after spending years on it. and then the TV show likely allowed a push to refresh a gaming product for the brand-----so, we finally got the obvious, very late remaster. Intergalactic was also delayed as a whole project, due to the live service game.

And I'm willing to bet TLOUII's remaster may have been more ambitious, more like a remake: had they not been set back by the live service focus.
Click to expand...
Jesus. Absolutely crazy days gone sold so well and wasn’t greenlit a sequel. That’s a travesty.
 
M76 said:
No, the opposite: I'm looking at it closer than you. You're just listing off total sales from a flawed list that for some reason only includes PS3 sales for TLOU, completely skewing the picture making it seem like TLOU2 outsold it.
Click to expand...

The PS4 remaster of TLOU is on the list. The remake for PS5 and PC (titled The Last of Us Part 1) is not on the list. Because this list is before that was made.

I'm looking at the time distribution of sales as well. TLOU1 started slower
Click to expand...
Because it was a new IP, with more/less a focus on zombies. In an industry flooded with Zombie games. Even coming from Naughty Dog, people had to warm up to it.


You really believe you can just draw sales as a linear graph that is constant over time? No wonder you don't get what I'm talking about it being front loaded.
Click to expand...
You are skewing this the way you want it.
I didn't state anything to be constant, over time. I actually literally said that TLOUII is not "evergreen", like TLOU1 and some of Sony's other titles.
We don't have hard data. But, from the 10million at two years, combined with some kind of sales over time, combined with a TV show and a remaster 4 - 5 years later: IMO we can conservatively assume another ~ 4 million. Which puts it in swinging distance of the remaster for TLOU1.
~14 million or better, isn't a failure. And isn't a title which spells doom for the next Naughty Dog game.



Congratulations, you found me, I'm one of those people. Is this relevant?
Click to expand...
Why are we talking in circles?

See your own quote:
"I have never seen a single person being genuinely excited for this game for the right reasons (ie. interested in the story or the gameplay)."

and then this:
I have no doubt it will have competently made gameplay. The problem is nobody seems to be interested in the gameplay due to the other controversial choices.
Click to expand...

Naughty Dog is generally known for good/great gameplay. And TLOU2 is often talked about as the best 3rd person combat, ever.

Now the trailer for their next game, seems to imply there is a focus on melee combat. Something which hasn't been a focus in......maybe any Naughty Dog game ever. People aren't talking about that, eh?

You see what you want in this.

With a protagonist nobody excited to play as.
Click to expand...
That is certainly a thing you are insisting


I can tell you they obviously didn't strike a good balance. It was so overt and out of place. Even CP2077's Porsche product placement was pushing it a bit for me, but that was like a 2/10 compared to this...

....I didn't even know yet how right I was going to be when I wrote: "people who want to ignore all the red flags and pretend this is fine"
Click to expand...
Sony has done this to themselves.

I agree, we would usually rather not see real life brands, in our Sci-Fi and Fantasy. But, Sony forced a bunch of their core studios to sidetrack on GAAS projects, most of which were cancelled. A whole lot of money with no return. Then forcing re-orgs and closures. The industry is in meltdown. And Playstation is one of the epicenters.

That said, the trailer wasn't cut in such a way, which seemed necessarily "overt". All of the shots are choices one would likely have made, even without a brand logo on screen. And the stuff we are literally seeing on screen, otherwise fit the design goals of this game's universe. A spaceship, CD changer helping to flesh out the retro/future pastiche. Clothing styles which lean towards casual/cool, etc.

Brand placement usually only becomes a problem in games, when its repeated a few too many times. Indeed, we'll see how the final game handles it.
Cyberpunk has its own in universe version of it. The game has like 5 billboards-----which you see EVERYWHERE. Yes, I understand Cyberpunk is doing that as both flavor and satire. It is no less annoying, than if the billboards were real brands.
 
Last edited:
Armenius said:
Including remasters and rereleases, The Last of Us Part II sold 12 million copies. The Last of Us sold over 37 million. That is a 67.6% decline in sales. Original releases only? 10.3 million vs. 12.7 million. So not as bad with an 18.9% decline, but I think sales of the remasters illustrate that far more people care about the original game compared to the sequel (2 million vs. 18.6 million, or an 89.2% drop).
Click to expand...
Keep in mind the "2 million" number floating around, is usually attributed to sites/services which attempt to scrape data from Steam. We don't have real data from Steam.
And we have no data from Playstation. Which probably means it hasn't been amazing. But, their PC ports also historically underperform their console versions.

we are also talking about a remaster with relatively less improvement. TLOU2 PS4 version, could already run at 60fps on PS5 via backward compatibility (and I think a small update patch). Whereas the PS4 version of TLOU1, was the first time you could play TLOU in 60fps.

Addtionally, TLOU2 didn't get a remaster for the new console generation, until about 5 years after release. TLOU got a remaster for the new console, 1 year later.
The delay on the remaster, was likely due to Sony's mass focus on GAAS projects. Naughty Dog is pretty precious about their games. I am certain they would have done a proper native PS5 remaster right away, rather than relying on Backward Compatibility mode------if they hadn't been inundated by Sony's GAAS initiatives.

The handling of this game as a product, undoubtedly lost them some sales.

---------------------

I know TLOU all total, between original, remaster, and remake: has outsold TLOU2. I have not disputed that.

I would conservatively put the remaster at 4 million sold. It could be more/is likely more, due to the fact that Playstation published games usually sell way better on Playstation consoles, compared to Steam.

TLOU2 has sold well. And a 3rd game also selling 14 million+, would be plenty damn fine. Most games do not sell enough to throw off the rotation of the earth. Its a select few, unless you are Nintendo. There is no writing on the wall, That TLOU3 won't sell enough for its own costs.
It may not sell enough, to get Sony out of its GAAS bills.
 
Last edited:
T4rd said:
The same things happened to the second season of the show that follows Part 2; views tanked significantly. This is pretty clearly a case of most fans rejecting their decisions on Part 2's story, esp. since Part 2 was a huge improvement on the first game in every other way (esp. game play).
Click to expand...
If I listen to opinion sources whom are less hyper focused on leftist propaganda as a talking point:

TLOU Season 2 was apparently a notably less well written and produced show. I've seen some people claim it only had maybe two good episodes. And from critics whom are also gamers, not only film/tv critics: a lot of lamentations about how poorly it adapts the source material.

------------------
I haven't actually seen it. I have a very low tolerance for zombie stuff, unless its Resident Evil (games only. I don't watch the movies).
 
Last edited:
reposted with corrected information

Mchart said:
Jesus. Absolutely crazy days gone sold so well and wasn’t greenlit a sequel. That’s a travesty.
Click to expand...
It sold 7.32 million in its first 3-ish years. This is known due to the Sony hack/leaks.
So that means it sold 2-3 million more, by the time that list I posted, came out.

Sony declined a pitch for a sequel: due to an extended development time on the first game, which resulted in staffing and budget issues. And due to mixed critical reception.

The game is a pretty good hit with players.

Another example of Sony fumbling-----it took about 6 years to release a PS5 remaster.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top