Naughty Dog Job Listings Mention Next-Gen And Single-Player

Less than a month after The Last of Us Part II's launch, developer Naughty Dog is looking to fill multiple positions at its studio, with one role specifically scouting for a single-player Level/Environment Designer.

The job listings on Naughty Dog's career site run the gamut from animators to programmers to lighting artists and everything in between. While it's unclear if Naughty Dog is working on a new project, a job post for a Tools Programmer confirms the studio is looking for someone to "work on our next-generation graphics analysis, profiling and debugging tool in conjunction with our sister technology group." If Naughty Dog is working on another game already, it seems likely it will arrive on PlayStation 5.

Another listing for a Melee/Gameplay Animator says this hire will "help us create compelling gameplay for our future project(s)," with work possibly including "helping shape the hand-to-hand combat system" and more. It suggests that whatever Naughty Dog is prototyping may be some sort of action-adventure experience.

While none of these listings make it explicitly clear what Naughty Dog's intentions are or whether there is another game in development, the studio confirmed two years ago that The Last of Us Part II would have a multiplayer component with the return of The Last of Us' Factions mode. This Factions mode, however, was scrapped in 2019, with the studio stating that its scope outgrew game and will become its own experience.

The job posts come not long after Naughty Dog said The Last of Us 3 is not out of the question. However, with the ending of The Last of Us Part II, the studio is undecided on what's next for the series or ND.