Sony's June 2026 PlayStation State of Play delivered some genuine highlights, including a full gameplay reveal for Marvel's Wolverine and the announcement of God of War Laufey. What it did not deliver was any sign of Naughty Dog or Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet, and that absence is speaking volumes.
Intergalactic reveal, TGA 2024
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The silence from Naughty Dog keeps getting louder
Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet was first revealed at The Game Awards in December 2024. The game, a sci-fi action adventure centered on a bounty hunter armed with a plasma sword, entered early development back in 2020 and was described by Naughty Dog creative director Neil Druckmann as the studio's most expansive, ambitious, and likely most expensive project to date. That is a significant bar for a studio responsible for the The Last of Us series.
Here's the thing: Naughty Dog's last brand new release was The Last of Us Part 2 in June 2020. Six years have passed. In that time, the studio shelved a planned The Last of Us multiplayer spinoff and redirected resources toward Intergalactic. Fans who were hoping State of Play would finally give them something concrete to hold onto walked away empty-handed.
The showcase was not short on content. Insomniac Games brought a substantial look at Marvel's Wolverine. Sony Santa Monica unveiled God of War Laufey. Firesprite revealed Until Dawn 2. The June 2026 State of Play had momentum. Naughty Dog just was not part of it.
Naughty Dog is not the only Sony studio going quiet
The bigger picture here is that several first-party PlayStation studios were conspicuously absent from the broadcast, and the pattern is hard to ignore.
Bend Studio has not shipped a game since Days Gone in 2019. Media Molecule last released Dreams in 2020. Haven Studios, the Montreal-based developer founded in 2021 and acquired by Sony in 2022, has yet to ship its debut title Fairgame$ at all. Polyphony Digital released Gran Turismo 7 in 2022 with no new project announced since.
Even Horizon Hunters Gathering, Guerrilla Games' co-op spinoff that is actively running betas right now, did not appear at the show. That one was a genuine surprise given how close it appears to be.
PlayStation's first-party output has been declining over the past five years. The cancellation of multiple live-service titles and the absence of several studios from major showcases reflects a pipeline that is thinner than Sony's first-party reputation would suggest.
Sony is simply releasing fewer games. That is not speculation, it is the pattern that the last several years of releases have established. The studios are working, but the gap between announcement and launch has stretched considerably across the board.
What this means for players waiting on Intergalactic
For anyone who got excited watching that Intergalactic reveal trailer in late 2024, the State of Play no-show is a cold reminder of where things stand. No gameplay footage. No release window. No development update. Nothing.
The game began early development in 2020, which means it has been in production for roughly six years already. That does not automatically mean it is close. Games of this scale and ambition, especially those described by their own director as the studio's biggest ever undertaking, routinely take seven to ten years from early development to release. The math does not inspire confidence that launch is imminent.
If you are looking for something to play in the sci-fi action space while waiting, Phantom Galaxies scratches a similar itch with its mech-based space combat. You can check out our in-depth review for a full breakdown of what it offers, or browse the Phantom Galaxies strategy guides if you are already playing and want to sharpen up.
The next major PlayStation showcase window will be worth watching closely. If Intergalactic does not surface there with something substantial, the wait is going to feel even longer.
