For players who have been waiting for Nathan Drake to climb back onto PlayStation hardware in some form, this one will sting a little. A new claim says Naughty Dog and Sony once explored an Uncharted Remake before choosing The Last of Us remake instead.

The report comes from Thekempy, a dataminer known for work connected to an Uncharted 4 documentary, who discussed the subject on the Last Stand Media podcast with Colin Moriarty. According to him, Naughty Dog was seriously considering revisiting Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune. The studio allegedly built a small test section in 2018 or 2019 to see how the original adventure could look with more modern technology.

What was allegedly tested for Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune

Thekempy said the remake effort focused on a specific scene from Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune, the 2007 game that introduced Nathan Drake, Elena Fisher, Victor “Sully” Sullivan, and Sony’s glossy new treasure-hunting franchise.

The test slice reportedly recreated the sequence in which Nate and Elena fly toward the island in Sully’s plane, get shot down, and parachute out. Not exactly a quiet menu screen, then. If a studio wants to see whether a remake can handle cinematic chaos, that scene is a useful stress test.

“They actually made a tiny little slice of the game,” Thekempy said, adding that he knew which section it was because some of the material later appeared in the files of The Last of Us Part 2. He said the remake test used the same engine and was essentially rebuilt with visuals closer to Uncharted 4.

That detail lines up with earlier discoveries that suggested the plane sequence had been found inside The Last of Us Part 2’s files. It does not amount to an announcement, of course. Game files are often the industry’s attic, full of strange boxes nobody wants to explain.

Why Naughty Dog may have chosen The Last of Us instead

What stands out is that the Uncharted remake was even considered. It is why, according to Thekempy, the idea did not move forward.

He said Naughty Dog and Sony looked at the test and decided Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune needed more than a visual upgrade. The first game remains important, but it is also the oldest entry in the series, with level design, combat pacing, and set pieces that reflect its era more clearly than its sequels do.

“They realised, ok, Uncharted 1 needs a bit more modernization in terms of the levels and set-pieces,” Thekempy said. “So they decided, ‘No, we’ll not do that, we’ll do one that needs a little bit less modernizing,’ and that’s how they ended up with The Last of Us.”

That explains why remaking The Last of Us made sense. The 2013 game was already closer to modern Naughty Dog design, while Drake’s Fortune would likely require deeper structural work to meet current expectations. Put simply, one game needed a tune-up; the other needed a lot more work.

How this fits Naughty Dog’s recent history

The claim also lands in a broader conversation about Naughty Dog’s relationship with its older franchises. Uncharted remains one of PlayStation’s defining series, but it has been quiet for years. Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End released in 2016, followed by Uncharted: The Lost Legacy in 2017. Since then, the studio’s public output has leaned heavily toward The Last of Us.

Thekempy’s comments also tie back to earlier talk about Uncharted 4’s development. His earlier documentary work looked at Amy Hennig’s original vision for the game, while other reporting has described a difficult production process before the final version took shape. At one point, the project was reportedly in such rough shape that Naughty Dog considered drastic action. The finished game, it is fair to say, did not suffer that fate.

That history matters because Naughty Dog built its reputation on expensive, tightly controlled narrative games. Remaking Drake’s Fortune would not just mean sharper textures and better lighting. It would mean deciding how much of the original’s design should remain intact and how much should be rebuilt for players who now expect the fluidity of Uncharted 4.

Is an Uncharted remake still possible?

For now, there’s no confirmed Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune remake. Thekempy was careful not to claim the project is currently active, saying only that Naughty Dog had tried it once and could try again.

“They were certainly considering doing that,” he said. “I don’t know if they ever picked it back up, or if they’ve any interest in doing that, but they have at least tried once in the past, so I could see them trying to do it again.”

That leaves the familiar gap between evidence and hope — the place game rumors like to camp out. The existence of a reported test slice suggests the idea was real enough to warrant development time. It does not prove that a full remake is in production, approved, or even on a whiteboard somewhere at Naughty Dog.

Still, the logic is easy to understand. Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune launched a series that became central to PlayStation’s identity, and its characters still carry audience affection. If Naughty Dog ever wants to revisit the franchise without making a new sequel, remaking the first game is the easiest route back. It would also be the hardest version to get right, which may be exactly why it was left behind the first time.