14 DAY TRIAL // Uncharted 2: Among Thieves is not out yet but the creators at Naughty Dog seem to be very eager to talk about what comes next for the franchise. Initial reviews for the game are very positive, emphasizing that the new adventure starring Nathan Drake managed to build on the positive elements of the original while adding better combat, sharper graphics and more complex puzzles.
Justin Richmond, who is the multiplayer designer for Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, told Eurogamer quite clearly that “There will be downloadable content, yes,” adding that “What you'll probably see is more of the competitive type: more maps, more modes, stuff like that. The co-op stuff is hugely time-intensive and the size of it - the physical download size - is huge, so that's probably not an option.”
He also left the door open for the possibility of more cooperative multiplayer sections being delivered at a later date, probably as part of a paid expansion. Naughty Dog built the game in such a fashion that the content is easy to add as long as the player is ready to spend the time needed to download a big chunk of data. We might even see something similar to the Horde and the Firefight modes for Gears of War 2 and Halo 3: ODST appearing in Uncharted 2 later on.
Richmond also hinted at the fact that the team is already working on preliminary ideas for a yet unconfirmed Uncharted 3, saying that some of the ideas that did not make it into the second game in the series might appear later on.
If Uncharted 2: Among Thieves does well at retail and garners positive reviews, it's very easy to see how Sony could choose to bank on the popularity and release an expansion, probably offering some more multiplayer and co-op elements, before committing to the creation of a full on sequel.