According to rumors, Naughty Dog — the team behind Uncharted and The Last of Us — is working on a new IP for the PS5 starring a black protagonist. If this is true, it would be the first Naughty Dog game to star a black protagonist. While Naughty Dog games have featured prominent black characters in the past — such as Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End and Uncharted: The Lost Legacy’s Nadine — they’ve never been protagonists. Rumors are this will change with its next game, a new IP, which is apparently inspired by the movie Moonlight.
The rumor comes the way of leaker Ralph over on Twitter, who has made a name for themselves leaking information about next year’s Call of Duty. According to the leaker, “Naughty Dog are looking at films like Moonlight” for inspiration for their new game. What exactly this means, isn’t clear as Ralphs doesn’t provide any further illuminating details.
For those that don’t know: Moonlight is an award-winning film from 2016 that shows the protagonist during three stages of life: childhood, adolescence, and early adult life. Again, we don’t know, but perhaps this narrative structure is what Ralph is hinting at. A big part of the moving is the exploration of the difficulties the protagonist faces in regards to his sexuality and identity. This could also be what Ralph is getting at.
Unfortunately, for now, all we have is speculation. And of course, the little the rumor does divulge should be taken with a grain of salt because it’s only that, a rumor. Not only is the tidbit of information unofficial, but it’s also subject to change.
At the moment of publishing, none of the implicated parties have commented on any of this. We don’t expect any of the implicated parties to comment on any of this, but if any of them buck this expectation and do provide some type of comment or statement, we will be sure to update the story accordingly. In the meantime, and as always, feel free to leave a comment or two letting us know what you think or, alternatively, hit me up on Twitter @Tyler_Fischer_ to talk all things gaming. What do you want to see next from Naughty Dog?
