We’ve all been there. You’re scrolling through a thread of the best PS2 games ever made, and someone inevitably drops the name. Jak. Daxter. That orange ottsel and his moody, silent-turned-snarky partner. It’s been decades—literally—since Jak 3 wrapped up the main trilogy in 2004. Since then, the silence from Naughty Dog has been loud. It's the kind of silence that breeds rumors, fake "leaked" posters, and enough cope to power a Precursor robot.
But honestly, why haven't we seen Jak and Daxter 4?
If you ask the internet, you’ll get a hundred different answers. Some say Naughty Dog hates fun. Others think the series is "too old" for modern gaming. The reality is actually way more interesting—and a little bit heartbreaking if you’re a fan of the series' cartoony roots.
The Jak 4 that almost lived (and then died)
Most people don’t realize that Jak and Daxter 4 wasn't just a pipe dream. It was real. Sort of.
Back around 2009, Naughty Dog actually split into two teams. One team was finishing up Uncharted 3, and the other was tasked with bringing Jak and Daxter into the high-definition era. This wasn't just a casual "hey, should we do this?" conversation. They were deep in it. They had concept art. They had a vision.
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But here’s the kicker: they weren't making the Jak and Daxter you remember.
The team, led by Neil Druckmann and Bruce Straley, was trying to "reimagine" the world. They were looking at the power of the PS3 and thinking, "How do we make this look real?" They started designing a Jak that looked like a real human. Daxter looked like a realistic, slightly terrifying mutation of a weasel and an otter. The world was gritty. It was grounded.
Why Naughty Dog pulled the plug
They eventually looked at what they were building and had a moment of clarity. It didn't feel like Jak.
Druckmann has talked about this in several interviews over the years, basically saying they felt like they were making a game for marketing reasons rather than creative passion. They were trying to force these stylized, "cartoony" characters into a hyper-realistic world, and it just felt wrong. They felt like they were doing a disservice to the fans.
So, they went to the bosses at Sony and asked if they had to make Jak 4. Sony, surprisingly, said no. That "realistic" Jak and Daxter project was scrapped, and the team used that same creative energy to build a little game you might have heard of called The Last of Us.
Yeah. Jak and Daxter 4 died so Joel and Ellie could live.
Rumors, the movie, and the "Intergalactic" connection
Fast forward to 2026. The landscape is weird. We’re seeing a massive resurgence in mascot platformers thanks to Astro Bot, but Jak remains on the shelf.
There’s been a lot of chatter lately about a project called Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet. It’s Naughty Dog’s new sci-fi IP. Fans with eagle eyes have noticed that some of the enemy designs—specifically a giant robot shown in the early teasers—look suspiciously like the old concept art from the cancelled Jak 4 project.
Is it a secret sequel? Kinda doubtful. It’s more likely that Naughty Dog is just finally using some of those cool sci-fi ideas they’ve had tucked away in a drawer for fifteen years.
The Tom Holland Factor
Then there’s the movie. Ruben Fleischer, the guy who directed the Uncharted movie, has been vocal about wanting to do a live-action Jak and Daxter. Even Tom Holland has joked (or maybe not joked?) about wanting to play Jak in a "weird, dark, A24-style" version of the story.
While a movie isn't a game, Sony loves "synergy." If a Jak movie actually happens, you can bet your last Power Cell that a game—or at least a massive remake—will follow.
What a modern Jak and Daxter 4 would even look like
If Sony greenlit a sequel today, it wouldn't be the same game we played in 2004. The industry has changed.
Modern Jak would probably lean heavily into the "open zone" style we see in games like God of War: Ragnarok or Star Wars Jedi: Survivor. Think about it. The original trilogy was already doing the "no loading screens" thing way before it was cool. Jak 2 was basically "GTA for kids" with hovercars and a police state.
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- Eco powers would need a total overhaul. We’d likely see a more fluid system where you swap Eco on the fly to solve environmental puzzles.
- The Gunstaff is a must. The morphing gun from the later games was ahead of its time. In 2026, that could be a deep, customizable weapon system.
- Daxter as a gameplay mechanic. In the originals, Daxter was mostly just there for the jokes. A modern version would probably have him more involved in combat or traversal, maybe similar to Atreus in God of War.
The "Lost Frontier" problem
We have to address the elephant in the room: The Lost Frontier.
Developed by High Impact Games instead of Naughty Dog, it's widely considered the "black sheep" of the family. Most fans (and honestly, most of the people at Naughty Dog) don't really count it as a true Jak 4. It lacked the polish, the scale, and the heart of the original trilogy.
If Jak and Daxter 4 ever truly happens, it’ll likely ignore The Lost Frontier entirely. It has to. To move forward, the series needs to reclaim its identity as a premier, high-budget adventure, not a handheld spin-off that felt like a step backward.
Is there actually hope for a revival?
Honestly? It's a coin flip.
Naughty Dog is currently the "prestige" studio. They make the heavy-hitters. The emotional dramas. But there is a growing sentiment in the industry that games have become too serious. Players are starting to crave that colorful, imaginative, slightly edgy vibe that defined the early 2000s.
The success of Astro Bot proved that there is a massive market for high-fidelity platformers on the PS5 and whatever comes next. Sony knows this. Even if Naughty Dog doesn't want to make it, they could easily hand the keys to a studio like Bluepoint (who did the Demon's Souls remake) or even a team within Santa Monica Studio.
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There were actually rumors in late 2025 about Santa Monica working on a "mystery project" that wasn't God of War. While people jumped to "Jak 4" immediately, it’s mostly speculation. But the fact that the conversation is still happening after 20 years says something.
What you can do right now
If you're itching for a Jak fix, don't wait for a sequel that might never come.
- Play the OpenGOAL versions. If you have a PC, this is the definitive way to play. It's a fan-made "decompilation" project that lets the games run natively on modern hardware with 4K support, ultrawide ratios, and zero lag. It’s better than any official port Sony has released.
- Support the "Mascot" genre. Buy games like Astro Bot, Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart, and Psychonauts 2. Sony tracks these metrics. If platformers sell, the chance of Jak returning goes up exponentially.
- Keep the noise alive. Join the communities on Reddit or Discord. Naughty Dog developers are active on social media; they see the fan art, they see the petitions, and they know the love is still there.
The story of Jak and Daxter isn't necessarily over; it’s just stuck in a very long cutscene. Whether it's a full Jak and Daxter 4 or a ground-up remake of the original trilogy, the Precursor legacy is too big to stay buried forever.