The Last of Us Part I, a PS5 remake of the beloved 2013 game from Naughty Dog, recently released to positive reviews from critics and fans. The game offers a bit more than your standard Easter eggs, though, as it seemingly contains a teaser for a new fantasy IP rumoured to be in development at Naughty Dog.

As reported by Naughty Dog Central, fans spotted a piece of artwork included in The Last of Us Part I (that wasn’t in the original game or remaster) showing a fantasy-themed image. It’s widely speculated that this could be a teaser for a new IP currently in development at Naughty Dog. However, this isn’t the first time that we’re hearing about a fantasy game from the studio.

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Back in January 2021, a Naughty Dog concept artist named Hyoung Nam posted images on her ArtStation account with the caption “Inspire from new game.” The images seemingly showed a fantasy setting unlike anything related to Naughty Dog’s games like Uncharted or The Last of Us, leading fans to speculate that Nam might’ve been teasing a new mystery game in development at the studio.

When pressed about the images, Nam quickly dismissed them as concept art that was inspired by Assassin’s Creed Valhalla. However, her caption “inspire from new game” doesn’t seem to suggest that it was about Valhalla at all.

Now, similar fantasy-themed images have appeared in The Last of Us Part I.

Fans are speculating that art in TLOU1 are indicative of Naughty Dog’s new IP. Seemingly would be a fantasy setting.

what do you think? pic.twitter.com/IV9tZZqULW

— Naughty Dog Central (@NaughtyNDC) September 5, 2022

Fans believe that Naughty Dog might’ve carefully placed these images in the game as a teaser for one of the studio’s upcoming projects. This isn’t the first time that Naughty Dog did something like this, as teasers for The Last of Us were found in Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception.

On the other hand, these images could simply be decorations in The Last of Us Part I and nothing more. As far as we know, Naughty Dog is currently working on the standalone multiplayer for The Last of Us as well as another project which many fans assume could be the third game in the series. Whatever you make of it, the teasers are oddly coincidental when looking back at Nam’s posts.

The Last of Us Part I is now available for PS5. A PC version is in development for release at a later date.

NOW READ The Last of Us Part I Review – Remaking a Masterpiece

Source: Naughty Dog Central