Naughty Dog May Hint at Next Game in Last of Us Part 1

Posters found in-game have revived rumors of a Naughty Dog fantasy game.
Posters found in-game have revived rumors of a Naughty Dog fantasy game. / Courtesy of Naughty Dog, via @IliaAkhavan on Twitter

Fans of The Last of Us Part 1 suspect developer Naughty Dog has teased its next game using art hanging on in-game walls.

The Last of Us Part 1 was released for PlayStation 5 on Sept. 2, and as fans have swarmed the game's environments they've discovered several posters depicting fantasy elements and scenes. These bits of art depict a warrior facing a fire-breathing dragon, a combination pegasus-unicorn and two different warrior women with animal companions.

Flimsy as this evidence may be, this wouldn't be the first time Naughty Dog has teased an upcoming release in one of its games. Teasers for The Last of Us appeared in Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception, with newspaper stories and concept art showing up in-game.

There's also the fact that Naughty Dog senior concept artist Hyoung Nam posted three pieces of fantasy art to her ArtStation account in early 2021. The series bore the title "The Women of the North," and one showed a warrior sitting on a dragon she'd killed. Nam has since said the images were meant to be an homage to Assassin's Creed Valhalla, but fans believe she may be covering for a slip-up.

Art from Hyoung Nam's ArtStation account.
Art from Hyoung Nam's ArtStation account. / Courtesy of Hyoung Nam

"Inspire from new game call 'Assassin's Creed Valhalla'," reads the updated description. "You know what I'm talking about..." Nam then ends the description with a winking emoji.

Naughty Dog is said to be still at work on an untitled Last of Us multiplayer experience. Its last new IP was The Last of Us, which it released in 2013.