Uncharted 4 Originally Made Sam the Villain, Former Naughty Dog Artist Says

Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End was not always built around the same Sam Drake that players met in 2016. Former Naughty Dog visual effects artist Matt Radford said Amy Hennig’s version treated Sam as the villain, featured a different actor, and followed a noticeably different path toward Nathan Drake’s final adventure.

Radford joined Naughty Dog while Hennig was still working on Uncharted 4. In a Kiwi Talkz interview, he described her version as “very different, very different” from the game that eventually shipped.

Sam had a very different role in Hennig’s version

Sam eventually became Nathan Drake’s older brother, returning after years of being presumed dead and pulling Nathan back into treasure hunting. Radford’s recollection presented an earlier version of Sam as the villain rather than the conflicted brother players later met.

The character was also attached to another actor. Todd Stashwick had initially been cast as Sam before Troy Baker took over the role in the final game.

Hennig later described the idea with more nuance. In a 2019 interview with VG247, she said the story still included core ideas such as Sam being Nathan’s brother, while taking a different route toward reconciliation between them.

Hennig’s version leaned into a different kind of adventure

Recovered material has offered another glimpse at the abandoned direction. Earlier in 2026, dataminer Michael Kemp cleaned up scenes that appeared to come from an earlier version of Uncharted 4. The footage included more time searching through shipwrecks with Elena and less gunplay than the final game.

Radford’s first look at Hennig’s project came when the game was still extremely early. Naughty Dog built a green-light demo that ran at roughly 1 frame per second on a PC, a “crazy scrappy” snapshot of a project that had not yet settled into its final form. Even with those limitations, Radford thought Hennig’s vision was promising.

Hennig left Naughty Dog in 2014, after which Neil Druckmann and Bruce Straley took over development. Uncharted 4 eventually shipped in 2016 with a story and cast that differed considerably from the early version Radford remembered.

Radford also remembered Hennig working late with the team and remaining approachable despite her senior position. He said she would message developers at 2 a.m. about creative ideas and treated people around her with an unusual level of openness.

He remains interested in seeing Hennig lead another major game and would like to see her make a comeback. Hennig is currently continuing work on Marvel 1943: Rise of Hydra. Her version of Uncharted 4 may never become playable, but Radford’s memories offer another look at how much the project changed before it reached players.

Would you have preferred to see Hennig’s villainous version of Sam, or does the final Uncharted 4 story work better for you? Share your take and follow us on X, Bluesky, YouTube, Instagram, Steam, and Telegram.