Uncharted 4: "This Is the End for Nathan Drake"

Naughty Dog's said in the past that Uncharted 4: A Thief's End will be as final as its subtitle suggests. While the Uncharted franchise may continue in some form, its wayward hero Nathan Drake will no longer be a part of it.

Speaking to UK newspaper The Sun, Uncharted 4 co-director Neil Druckmann has not only reiterated the studio's stance on Drake, but also suggested that it would be "really hard" to make another sequel starring the hero after the events of Uncharted 4.

"...with the end of [Uncharted 4's] story, it will be really hard to do a sequel with Nathan Drake," Druckmann said. "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."

Does this mean Drake's simply retiring, or that something more dramatic and gut-wrenching happens to him? Unsurprisingly, Druckmann remains coy, but he does pause to explain why Naughty Dog's setting aside its most famous hero.

"We've been with this character for so long," Druckmann 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 honor him is to go out on top, to finish his story."

It's a brave move, that's for sure, and only time will tell whether Uncharted—in the hands of Naughty Dog or another studio—will survive without Drake as its focus.

Uncharted 4: A Thief's End is out on the April 26 for the PlayStation 4—assuming it isn't delayed again, that is...

Gamespot, The Sun

Original Story 12.08.15:

If the subtitle to Uncharted 4 - A Thief's End - sounds final, that's because it is. Despite the huge popularity of the series, and Sony benefitting from its exclusivity to the PlayStation platform, Naughty Dog remains adamant that it's the last game the developer will make in the franchise - and the last adventure for Nathan Drake.

Speaking to Kotaku, lead game designer Robert Cogburn explained why the studio's moving on from such a lucrative series - and predictably, it's as much about keeping Drake's globe-trotting exploits "grounded" as much as coming up with ways of keeping the action fresh.

"This is gonna be the fourth time we start answering stuff like, 'How do we make hand-grabs visible? What do we do to scale the combat experience? What are the interesting puzzles we can be introducing in the moment-to-moment as the player's experiencing this narrative?'" Cogburn explained. "That's not to say the questions will be the same in games we make going forward, but as a studio we grow tired of answering those same types of questions in the same fiction. It's gonna be fun for us to really embark on new iddeas and start fleshing those out."

Naughty Dog have finished with Uncharted, that much is clear. But is the property too lucrative to Sony to just let it rest? It seems logical that the francise would continue in some fashion without the developer that started it, just as Halo continued without Bungie. 

As for Naughty Dog, it has several as-yet unannounced new titles currently in the works - and then there's a certain game called The Last of Us 2 to look forward to...

In the meantime, here's a new trailer for Uncharted 4:

Uncharted 4: A Thief's Endis out in March 2016.

Gamespot