Neil Druckmann, director for Uncharted 4: A Thief's End, has mentioned that while it will be the last Uncharted game by Naughty Dog, the developer is open to handing the torch over to another studio altogether.
Speaking with GamesRadar, Druckmann—who believes the ending for Uncharted 4 will cause arguments—would be pleased to pass on the responsibility of continuing Nathan Drake's treasure-hunting adventure… under one important condition:
If they made great game I'd be excited. I'd want to play an Uncharted I didn't work on. It'd be a lot of fun.Obviously, we would have a big part in it as the creators of the franchise. We'd just want to make sure they get the essence of it right.
So while this parallels Bungie handing off the Halo series to 343 Industries, it looks that Naughty Dog would still have a guiding advisory role in any future Uncharted title. That said, Druckmann wants to ensure that this may also mean that Uncharted 5 won't exist at all:
[I]f there's a studio that can do that then great. If not then it’s okay that this is the last one.
That would be a crying shame, though, given that the Uncharted: Drake's Fortune movie is right on track.
As to which developer would be best to take the franchise over, I would suspect that Sony may want to bring it over to one of their developers to ensure that Uncharted remains one of PlayStation's exclusives. Whomever Naughty Dog chooses as its Uncharted successor, that developer will have to face lofty expectations, if our hands-on with Uncharted 4 is any indication.
Which developer do you think could do Uncharted 5 justice?
