Naughty Dog is a California-based studio founded 10+ years before PS1, in 1984. They're also one of the earliest to join first-party as Sony acquired them in 2001 - an easy decision considering the critical and commercial success of their Crash Bandicoot IP on PS1.
ND did well on PS2 with the Jak & Daxter IP. But it was on PS3, with the Uncharted trilogy and The Last of Us, where their prestige grew to the point that many consider them the best PlayStation studio. This continued into PS4 with sequels in both IP.
Like Insomniac, Naughty Dog have released the most first-party PS5 games with 4. Unlike Insomniac, all 4 are remasters/remakes of PS4 Uncharted/TLOU games. While nice, they're somewhat unnecessary as the PS4 versions still play great on PS5.
ND should've already released their first new PS5 game with The Last of Us Online. However, it was cancelled 4 years into development, therefore wasting over half the PS5 generation. Since then, ND announced their first new IP since 2011 - Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet. It's a religious-themed, third-person action-adventure that takes gameplay inspiration from Elden Ring and is likely launching in 2027/28.
It's very likely that Intergalactic retains the industry-defining quality Naughty Dog is known for, but the fact remains that they're almost certainly only releasing 1 new game on PS5 and it's shipping in its final years. Other first-party developers like Insomniac have already begun supplanting them this generation, which was unthinkable when TLOU released in 2013. Hopefully they're able to return to form on PS6.
Genre: Action-Adventure
Release Date: Jan 28, 2022
Days Since Their Last Game: 741
Metacritic Score: 87
Genre: Action-Adventure
Release Date: September 2, 2022
Days Since Their Last Game: 218
Metacritic Score: 89
Genre: Action-Adventure
Release Date: January 19, 2024
Days Since Their Last Game: 505
Metacritic Score: 90
Genre: Action-Adventure
Release Date: Unreleased
Days Since Their Last Game: N/A
Metacritic Score: N/A