Actor Troy Baker, best known for his work at Naughty Dog, has issued a bold warning to players ahead of the studio’s upcoming sci-fi title Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet, insisting that fans are about to have their “minds blown.” Speaking during a panel appearance at Ottawa Comiccon in Ontario, Canada, earlier this month, Baker—who is also featured in the studio’s new sci-fi adventure—hinted that the unannounced IP is pushing the developer further than ever before. The footage of his hour-long talk was captured and shared on YouTube before clips circulated across social media, but the standout moment came when Baker turned his attention to Naughty Dog’s next big gamble.
“You guys are going to have your minds blown,” he told the audience, covering his mouth and closing his eyes for emphasis. “You are not ready. You are not ready. It’s so good.” The uncharacteristically restrained teaser quickly became one of the most shared moments of the convention, reigniting excitement for a project that has seen little public development since its unveiling.
A New Star for a New Franchise
Baker pointed to the fact that Naughty Dog recently wrapped shooting performance capture for the studio’s new IP, marking a significant milestone in the game’s production. While the studio has kept its cards close to its chest, the lead role of Jordan A. Mun is being brought to life by actress Tati Gabrielle, whose casting has drawn particular praise from Baker’s fellow performers.
“I don’t know how [writer and director Neil Druckmann] found two amazing actors,” he said, drawing a comparison to a casting decision that reshaped modern gaming. “He found Ashley for Ellie, and he found Tati for Jordan. It’s like, what? How do you do that? She is the spiritual successor. There is so much about Jordan and that game of Intergalactic that feels like… man, I feel all of it. I feel Uncharted, I feel The Last of Us, I feel something new. They are testing the bounds of what that studio is capable of. Everything that I’ve seen, they are delivering, and it’s going to be incredible.”
Troy Baker, actor
Baker’s comparison to Ashley Johnson’s landmark casting as Ellie in Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet is a telling one. Johnson’s performance helped define one of gaming’s most emotionally resonant protagonists, and Baker’s suggestion that Gabrielle is cutting a similar path for a brand-new character underscores the confidence surrounding the project. For a studio that has spent more than a decade perfecting character-driven narratives, the stakes on this new IP are as high as they have ever been.
From The Game Awards to a Development Lull
Details about the project remain scarce, as Naughty Dog first revealed the title at The Game Awards 2024. Since then, the studio has offered only sporadic commentary. In 2025, co-founder and creative director Neil Druckmann called the game incredible, and later that same year, he joked that he’s been “bootcamp-ing” Gabrielle on the hate the studio’s received regarding The Last of Us Part 2. The remark was a candid acknowledgment of the intense scrutiny that has followed the studio’s most acclaimed franchise, a pressure that Druckmann has attempted to sidestep entirely by stepping away from HBO’s The Last of Us show to pour his focus into the project’s development.
That decision signals how deeply Druckmann has committed to the new IP, treating it as a priority over the television adaptation that has become a cultural phenomenon in its own right. It also raises expectations considerably, as players now expect Druckmann to channel the same narrative ambition into Intergalactic as he did into his previous works.
What’s Next for the Studio
Unfortunately, Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet has no official launch schedule in place for now. In the meantime, The Last of Us Day 2026 has given fans a little something to chew on while they await the series’ return. The event has provided a rare opportunity for the studio to reconnect with its audience, even as the studio’s flagship franchise continues to dominate industry conversations.
The series’ future was something Baker touched on during his convention appearance as well, though he offered no firm commitments. When pressed on what fans could expect from the studio’s broader slate, his answer was characteristically coy. “We’ll see,” he said, crossing his fingers—a fittingly understated response from an actor who just spent several minutes insisting that what’s coming next is anything but ordinary.
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