In a recent Ask Us Anything session on Reddit, Naughty Dog veteran Bruce Straley details why the esteemed studio passed on the production of Jak 4, but is still leaving the door open for its looming development.

Straley ultimately blames the skeleton of the narrative they wanted to tell, asserting that "the types of stories we were interested in telling just weren't fitting into the Jak universe. It was hard to deal with all the baggage of all of those characters and the lore and try to apply everything that we were learning about how to mesh stories and gameplay and we just couldn't make it all fit."

The world of Jak and Daxter, while not overtly shallow, was lacking the emotional versatility the talented team was needing. "Whenever we tried to make a Jak and Daxter story, constrained to what had already been created, those stories were falling flat for us - and the world didn't give us a lot of flexibility," he added. "Which meant that when we finally got to a story we actually liked, we weren't actually making a J-n-D game anymore.''

With respect to an upcoming sequel, Straley said "that the door is never fully shut, there's always a possibility."

After playing the The Last of Us, it's hard to imagine how Naughty Dog could have achieved the same level of emotional expression in Jak and Daxter. Granted, it's an entirely different universe calling for a different set of creative input, and its not to say that its not possible to execute. Besides, if anyone can do it, Naughty Dog can.

Are you more entertained by the idea of Naughty Dog pursuing Jak 4, or would you rather see the famed studio hand the reins over to a new devoted team?

http://www.psu.com/a022576/Naughty-Dog-on-Jak-4--the-door-is-never-fully-shut-theres-always-a-possibility

If there ever is another Jak game, it won't be from Naughty Dog.

Well if they ever want to make another great 3D action platformer with just a light story they can go back to J'n'D. But if they want to tell stories with a bit of depth then I agree J'n'D is the wrong world for that.

But I would like a light and fun J'n'D. No complaints about the direction ND is taking, and maybe one day they can have a 3rd team that does go back to their cartoon platformer roots, but I am looking forward to more games and more IP in the vein of Uncharted and TLOU.

Hopefully a developer who actually cares about the series can make a new Jak game that's good. I also find it sad that Naughty Dog feels like they have to make a game a super emotional experience. Why not make a game that has a good story but is just a fun adventure, not every game needs to be TLOU.

Naughty Dog is fucked regarding Jak and Daxter, guys! If they make it like the first one, Nintendo extremists  are going to accuse Sony of copying Nintendo yet again, but if they make it  like Jak 2 and Jak 3, then fans of the first one are going to complain about the game being a GTA clone just like the two games before it. That's it. Jak and Daxter is doomed forever. Jak 4 is the new The Last Guardian!

please dont

I haven't bought a ND game since Jak 2. What a let down. Jak and Daxter is Naughty Dog's masterpiece. I wish they would stop with this Uncharted/TLOU great storytelling nonsense and just make a fucking great platformer with a stupid story.

Jak 1 was more of a ripoff of Rare platformers then Nintendo ones. 

OT: I like the series but I'm not really aching for a new one, I think Naughty Dog took it as far as it was going to go. 

Please shut the door ND. You're too talented and too good writers to work on a platformer, give the IP to Tarsier, Sanzaru, Bend etc. and stick to more deep experiences.
But I don't really need to say this, they are never coming back to Jak & Daxter.

I actually don't think Naughty Dog would make a good Jak and Daxter gamer or Crash Bandicoot game. The team has moved on. They obviously don't have an interest in making games like that.

And LOL at the comments saying Naughty Dog are "too good" to make platformers. Those comments are just plain dumb.

Some of the best games in the world are platformers.