# The Storytelling Approach to *Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet* [Neil Druckmann on Leaving ‘The Last of Us,’ His New Game ‘Intergalactic’ and How Involved He’ll Be on Season 3: ‘My Job Is to Stay Very High Level’ (EXCLUSIVE)](https://variety.com/2025/gaming/news/neil-druckmann-last-of-us-exit-intergalactic-video-game-1236514453/)[^1] by Jennifer Maas for Variety Speaking of *[[Naughty Dog Studio Orders Employee Overtime for ‘Intergalactic’ – Bloomberg|Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet]]*, I have been sitting on sharing this article for far too long. Whoops. Back in *September*, Neil Druckmann gave an interview with Variety about the hot, new sci-fi game and his smaller role going forward with the HBO adaptation of *The Last of Us*. I'm just here for the *Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet* bits.[^2] > "It’s the most ambitious game we’ve ever made. It’s the most expansive game we’ve ever made, maybe the most expensive, by the time we finish it. Troy (Baker) is in the game, and it’s been five years since I’ve worked with Troy, and I’ve got to do it again, and it was a lot of fun to be on the stage with him again." At the time, this was news. The cast of the game had only been alluded to in the [[Intergalactic The Heretic Prophet|trailer]] from last year's Game Awards. Troy Baker has been in every Naughty Dog game since *The Last of Us* in 2013, so this casting isn't a surprise. > "But the way we write in games, a little bit different from the show, is that we outline for a really long time and make all these documents and backstories, but try to save writing scripts for as long as possible, because the big unknown is gameplay. Gameplay is often very theoretical, and then you try to implement it, and you have to run experiments and prototypes and then see what works, what doesn’t work, and sometimes the things that don’t work or do work will dictate the kind of story you can tell. So you don’t want to get attached to a bunch of details that then you have to throw away and try to stay very high level." Scripts being last makes some sense. I wonder how much script is *during* that gameplay though. Being an "on the stick" studio, how do the choices and actions impact the overall narrative? Without any real context for the title, I could only speculate. Back in January 2023, Druckmann did an [interview](https://www.youtube.com/live/viJ6tzdCBNc?si=zKrSgU-EygbDTUZS&t=1220) with The Washington Post talking about narrative design in games. One part, Druckmann shares how he has been "recently intrigued" by the non-traditional storytelling of games like *Elden Ring* and *Inside*, fewer cutscenes, more in-game world building and storytelling. > "And to me, that's some that's right now is some of the best joy I get out of games that trust their audience to figure things out, that don't hold their hand. That's the stuff I'm really intrigued by going forward. And again, it doesn't mean we will never have dialogue or cutscenes. > > I think like those are tools in your toolbox and it's about how to use all these different aspects. Some of it from other medium, you know, some of it found notes and environmental storytelling. And I think there's a way to to push that stuff forward. At least for the kind of games that we make at Naughty Dog." When you take that and pair it with the aforementioned quote from this Variety interview, it becomes more apparent why they would hold traditional script writing as long as possible. Makes me wonder what that [[Naughty Dog’s Next Game has a Writer’s Room|writer's room]] is working on. Clearly, Druckmann has taken tools from the HBO and TV production tool chest and brought them home to Naughty Dog. > "We don’t tend to plan too much in the future, because we find — and this is something I inherited, it’s just the Naughty Dog culture — that we do our best work when it’s something we’re really excited about, really passionate about. Just to give you an example, when we finished “The Last of Us Part II,” and that was highly successful for us, we were debating whether we should just go straight into “The Last of Us 3,” and we had a really long period where we looked at ideas for maybe what could be in that game." I still [[History is Repeating Itself|believe]] *Part III* is in some form of development. > "I’m sure if “Intergalactic” is successful, you will see it again. Whether that will be our next game right after that, I can’t say, and I leave that door open. Not to be coy for this particular question, we want to see how we feel once we’re done with it and look at the options in front of us, because we have some other ideas that we’d like to explore as well." We shall see. Whatever game is after *Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet*, at this rate, won't be out until the mid 2030s. 🫠 [^1]: What an unnecessarily long title. [^2]: I pretty much plan to always refer to *Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet* by its full name. I'm a purist when it comes to "*Part II*" instead of "The Last of Us 2" or "The Last of Us Part 2", SEO be damned.