Naughty Dog is Reportedly Already Crunching on Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet

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A new report suggests that Naughty Dog’s next game, Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet, may be facing the same issues the studio has been criticized for previously, despite not being released until 2027. These issues relate to “crunch,” a common term in the gaming industry describing situations where developers are forced to work excessive overtime to meet release deadlines.

Many gamers are eagerly awaiting Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet, a new game from the team behind Uncharted and The Last of Us. We’ve only seen a short trailer so far, and unfortunately, the game wasn’t featured at the 2025 Game Awards. Recent reports suggest that development may be facing some challenges, leaving fans concerned about when they’ll get a better look at the game.

Naughty Dog Worked Overtime for Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet

NEW: For the last seven weeks, Naughty Dog has enacted mandatory overtime for staff to finish an internal demo of their next game, Intergalactic. The game won’t be out until 2027, leaving some staff wondering: If they’re crunching now, what will next year be like? www.bloomberg.com/news/article… — Jason Schreier (@jasonschreier.bsky.social) 2025-12-18T19:21:36.348Z

Gaming journalist Jason Schreier reports that Naughty Dog is requiring developers to work overtime to finish an early demo of their new game. This crunch period has been ongoing for around seven weeks, which is concerning given the game is still in early development. According to Schreier, the project, called Intergalactic, has already fallen behind schedule, so employees are being asked to put in at least eight extra hours a week, tracking their time on an internal document.

Neither Sony nor Naughty Dog officially commented on the situation, but sources say employees were expected to work no more than 60 hours a week. However, they were required to be in the office five days a week instead of the usual three. This extra work was primarily due to an upcoming review by Sony, and now that the internal demo is complete, the required overtime has ended for most of the team. According to Jason Schreier, this was the first instance of company-wide mandatory overtime in quite some time.

Image via Naughty Dog

The surprising thing about this news is that Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet wasn’t expected to release until 2027, if not later. Usually, game developers only push their teams to work long hours – a practice known as ‘crunch’ – near the end of a project to meet a deadline. Since Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet doesn’t have a set release date and is still far from finished, people are concerned that this current crunch could indicate even bigger problems down the line next year.

Image via Naughty Dog

Look, Naughty Dog has a history of really pushing their employees hard, especially around big releases like The Last of Us: Part 2. We heard a lot about burnout and people leaving after that game came out. They tried to fix things by bringing in more producers, hoping to prevent that kind of crunch again, but from what I’m hearing from people inside the studio, a lot of those producers have already moved on. It doesn’t sound like the solution stuck.

Jason Schreier is a well-known and reliable source within the gaming industry, often sharing inside information about what’s happening behind the scenes. Naturally, not everyone at these companies appreciates those details becoming public, which can sometimes cause conflict.

Image via Naughty Dog

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2025-12-19 00:05