Naughty Dog started development of Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet back in 2020 and announced the game in late 2024, but the studio has yet to publish a launch date for the upcoming sci-fi action-adventure game. Now, a new report out of Bloomberg claims that Naughty Dog is planning to launch the Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet in mid-2027. However, it also seems as though Naughty Dog has once again fallen into crunch in order to meet that planned launch date and "get production back on track after several missed deadlines." The gaming industry is no stranger to long work hours, with games like CD Projekt Red’s Cyberpunk 2077 famously requiring months of crunch time ahead of the game’s launch.

According to Bloomberg’s insider sources, employees across Naughty Dog have been forced to work at least eight hours of overtime per week for the last seven weeks, with a maximum of 60 hours weekly. This new policy also saw developers at the Santa Monica studio return to the office five days a week, and it has been reality for Naughty Dog employees throughout the last year. That crunch-time period has been attributed to extra work as a result of needing to complete an internal demo. Supposedly, the studio will announce a new work schedule in early 2026, returning to its standard three-day work-from-home policy through at least the end of January.