As revealed in a recent job listing, Naughty Dog may be using AI to power NPC dialogue in its upcoming game, Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet.
Revealed back in 2024, Naughty Dog’s Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet showcased stunning visuals, ambitious gameplay, and promises to be unlike anything the team behind The Last of Us and Uncharted has created so far.
While we don’t yet have a release date, we do know plenty of developers are working on the adventure, with developer and writer Neil Druckmann stepping back from his work on The Last of Us HBO series to focus entirely on Naughty Dog’s next titles, including Intergalactic.
Naughty Dog to use AI NPCs in upcoming game
This has only been further proven by the recent Sony job listing for a Senior Dialogue Designer, which mentions that the applicant will be working on “NPC AI-driven dialogue systems,” alongside cinematic and gameplay dialogue for Naughty Dog’s upcoming games.
While the listing doesn’t confirm the project by name, it is extremely likely that this work will be involved with Intergalactic, Naughty Dog’s next major IP.
This marks a major turning point for the studio, whose past games have previously relied on hand-written dialogue. Now, with the use of AI, it’s suggested that there will likely be more NPCs to speak with, heightened dialogue trees, and the ability to respond more naturally to gameplay.
Interestingly, this isn’t something Druckmann or Naughty Dog are shying away from. Earlier this year, Druckmann said AI will “revolutionize how content is created,” noting it can reduce production hurdles and support more ambitious stories, though he did explain that it does have some “ethical issues we need to address.”
How intensely AI will feature in Intergalactic is yet to be seen, but it’s clear that NPCs will be using it.
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