The Last of Us Studio's Intergalactic Sets Launch Window, Start The Countdown

The next Naughty Dog release was always going to one of the more highly anticipated games of the next few years, and Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet certainly has been, with many speculating on when we will get to see more.

As another huge narrative game from the developer, the process of creating it was always going to take a while, but we haven't really had confirmation of a release date, or even a reliable window, outside of not any time soon.

Now, new information has emerged confirming that the studio is currently targeting a release window of mid-2027 internally, according to a new report on the game published by Bloomberg.

Unfortunately, it seems like even that might be a stretch for the developer, if the recent actions around their employees' work practices are any indication of how far along they are in relation to that goal.

Naughty Dog

Intergalactic is Releasing in 2027, But Crunch is Rearing Its Ugly Head

Much of that same Bloomberg report is dedicated to elaborating on significant changes to working practices being implemented by the lead figures at Naughty Dog, and it doesn't bode particularly well for the next 18 months or so.

The first uncomfortable step in the journey towards the crunch of old has seen employees be required to work an additional eight hours per week, though not more than 60 in total. They have also been asked to come into the office five days a week, a significant increase on the three days that were needed before, leaving parents scrambling for childcare and costing employees significantly more in travel costs.

The reason for the sudden change supposedly comes as part of preparations for a full tech demo of Intergalactic that the developer is presenting to Sony in the relatively near future, after they already missed multiple deadlines.

Those practices are supposedly set to wind down by the end of January once the presentation has been done, with a return to the usual working week, with three days in the office.

This doesn't bode particularly well for the run up to the full release of the game, with Naughty Dog not having a particularly shining record when it comes to crunch, notoriously even hiring individuals because of their willingness to pull ridiculous hours.

Not that I'm holding out too much hope here, but here's wishing that they manage to put out a brilliant game without ruining the lives of the people that work for them in the short to medium term.