Neil Druckmann, the director of the acclaimed game *The Last of Us*, has recently provided new insights into Naughty Dog's highly anticipated project, Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet. In a thought-provoking interview with Alex Garland, the renowned writer behind the zombie film *28 Days Later*, Druckmann shared that the development of *Intergalactic* has been underway for the past four years.
Druckmann humorously reflected on the creative backlash from *The Last of Us Part II*, stating, "We made a game, *The Last of Us 2*, we made certain creative decisions that got us a lot of hate. A lot of people love it, but a lot of people hate that game." Garland's response was a candid, "Who gives a shit?" to which Druckmann agreed, adding, "Exactly. But the joke is like, you know what, let's do something that people won't care as much about — let's make a game about faith and religion."
Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet Screenshots
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Set in an alternate historical timeline, *Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet* features Jordan A. Mun as Tati Gabrielle, navigating a world dominated by a significant yet evolving religion. The game's protagonist, a skilled bounty hunter, crash lands on a mysterious planet where communication ceased centuries ago. Druckmann elaborated, "This whole religion takes place on this one planet, and then at one point, all communication stops... And you're playing a bounty hunter that's chasing her bounty, and she crash lands on this planet."
Druckmann emphasized the game's unique approach to storytelling, stating, "So many of the previous games we've done, there's always, like, an ally with you. I really want you to be lost in a place that you're really confused about what happened here, who are the people here, what was their history. And in order to get off this planet — again, no one has been heard from this planet for 600 years or so — if you ever have hoped to have a chance to get off, you have to figure out what happened here."
AnswerSee ResultsIn other news, last week, Neil Druckmann and Craig Mazin, the showrunners for *The Last of Us Season 2*, confirmed that “spores are back” after their absence in the first season. At SXSW 2025, Druckmann revealed an escalation in the infected's numbers and types, as well as a new vector for the spread of the infection. "Season 1, we had this new thing that wasn’t in the game of these tendrils that spread, and that was one form," he said. "And then one shot you see in this trailer, there are things in the air."
Additionally, actress Kaitlyn Dever, who will play Abby in *The Last of Us Season 2*, discussed her challenges with the character, admitting she struggles to avoid looking at online reactions.
