If you’re confused by the twoing and froing of the Uncharted timeline, don’t worry, as that confusion will soon disappear. Naughty Dog broke new ground with the Uncharted franchise in 2007 by combining a great story and impressive gameplay. The series follows the adventures of Nathan Drake and his friends as they explore the world in search of treasure, meaning, greatness, and in the end: family. The franchise quickly earned its spot on the pantheon of great PlayStation exclusives and made history by shipping 41 million units since 2007.
The later entries shed new light on Drake’s past and upbringing that could confuse newer fans. This Uncharted timeline will cover every major event throughout the entire franchise in chronological order.
- Life Before Diving Into the Uncharted
- Uncharted: Golden Abyss (2011)
- Uncharted: Eye of Indra (2009)
- Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune (2007)
- Uncharted 2: Among Thieves (2009)
- Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception (2011)
- Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End (2016)
- Uncharted: The Lost Legacy (2017)
- The Future of the Uncharted Franchise
Life Before Diving Into the Uncharted
After spending his early years at Saint Francis’ Boy’s Home, fellow orphans constantly bullied Nate about his family. Born Nathan Morgan, he and his older brother, Sam, were abandoned by their father at the orphanage after their mother’s death. The brothers would look for each other and develop a passion for history until Sam left the orphanage to earn money since their father sold everything they owned.
One night during a bible retreat, Nathan was left behind at the orphanage and scolded by Sister Catherine for punching another boy who took his book. Refusing to share further details, the sister left the young adventurer alone and Sam came by for a visit discreetly. After scaling a few walls, Nate reunited with Sam and explained that the other boys were making fun of their parents. Sam told Nate to brush it off and revealed he tracked down their mother’s belongings to the other side of town.
The brothers broke into a massive mansion filled with historical artifacts and the owner was a colleague of their late mother. Nate found their mother’s journal and after nearly shooting the boys, Evelyn recognized the boys and spoke highly of their mother’s knowledge of history. The cops responded to Evelyn’s report and she was supposed to clear their name until she collapsed and died.
Sam quickly reacted by running away and realizing what would happen if they were caught. After escaping the scene, the brothers realize they can’t return to their old lives and decide to change their last names to Drake to continue their mother’s work and make up the story of being the heirs of Francis Drake.
Meeting Sullivan
A few years after changing their identities, Nate is seen wandering the streets of Colombia to steal Francis Drake’s ring from a museum. Before he could get the chance, an older man named Victor Sullivan took the mold of a key to steal the ring for his own. Nate tails Sully outside where he is seen with a woman named Katherine Marlowe, leader of the Order. As Nate grabs the ring, he is ambushed by Marlowe’s men.
Nate manages to slip away leading to a lengthy chase sequence across the rooftops of Colombia. One of Marlowe’s goons corners the young Drake and holds him at gunpoint until Sullivan comes to his rescue. Nate and Sully become partners in search of Francis Drake’s lost treasure and an inseparable pair until Sam pulls him back to continue the search for Henry Avery’s lost ship.
The Hollow Cross in Panama
The Drake brothers have been in and out of prisons during their youth but found themselves in a Panamanian cell for good reason. Sam introduces Nate to Rafe Adler, a rich businessman and treasure hunter who wants to be recognized for co-discovering Avery’s treasure. With Rafe’s resources, they bribed a guard named Vargas to let them in prison. Sam’s investigation led them to Panama and they tracked down a clue stashed away in an abandoned tower.
Vargas opens a letter written by one of Avery’s first mates and learns of their true intentions. The guard wants a bigger cut while Nate suggests that he could renegotiate with Rafe as he climbs up the tower and turns every stone for the hidden clue. The hidden clue is a hollow cross with Saint Dismas and an inscription that would lead them to Scotland.
As the trio left, an inmate who had beef with Nate ambushed them in the boiler room. Vargas and the guards later broke the fight and discovered they had been withholding information from him. Rafe suggested a 25% cut for all four as equals and as they shook hands, Rafe stabbed Vargas with a makeshift shank and they ran for their lives. Sam was caught in the crossfire and fell to his death while Rafe and Nate escaped. Nate chose to abandon this search and move on with Sullivan.
Meeting Chloe and Finding the Amber Room
A few years after escaping Panama, Nate and Sully encounter Chloe Frazer, a fellow treasure hunter as they go deep into the center of the Earth to search for the Amber Room. This is the first of many hidden cities Drake will find in his career as he manages to escape unscathed. The Amber Room is said to be hidden at Agartha, home of an ancient civilization and this was the first supernatural encounter for the characters.
Uncharted: Golden Abyss (2011)
Release Information
- Japan – December 17, 2011
- North America – February 15, 2012
- Europe – February 22, 2012
Bend Studio worked on this Uncharted title exclusive to the PlayStation Vita; unfortunately, the handheld device did not do that well; however, this is one of the rare few PS Vita games to have sold over a million units.
The Search for Quivira
Nathan Drake has been making a name for himself and was hired by Jason Dante. Drake meets Marisa Chase, a young archeologist with a personal connection to Quivira. Her grandfather went missing while trying to solve the mystery of the Golden Abyss. It is revealed that Dante is in cahoots with Roberto Guerro, a leader of a revolutionary army stationed in Central America. Guerro double-crosses Dante and abducts Chase. Nate meets up with Sully to rescue Chase and discovers the ruins of Quivira and the Golden Abyss, an underground network of radioactive gold.
After rescuing Chase, Nate and Sully detonated explosives causing the ruins to cave in and trapping Dante’s mercenaries and Guerro’s army. Guerro wasn’t going down without a fight and Nate fought him until he plummeted to his death. Another ancient city was destroyed and Nate lived long enough to tell the tale.
Uncharted: Eye of Indra (2009)
A motion comic released in 2009, Uncharted: Eye of Indra featured a penniless Drake. Without the proper resources to fund his trip to find Sir Francis Drake’s coffin, Nathan took a few odd jobs until he took one from Daniel Pinkerton in Indonesia. Rika Raja accompanied Drake in this adventure and later realized that the artifact Pinkerton already possessed the artifact he was looking for was concealed in another artifact.
Nate plans to rob Pinkerton while Rika brings along her brother, Eddy, and the trio successfully steals the Eye of Indra. As they celebrate a successful job, Rika pulls out a gun and betrays the two. Nate links up with Sully breaks down everything and is looking for other means to fund his expedition.
Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune (2007)
Release Information
- North America – November 19, 2007
- Australia – December 6, 2007
- Europe – December 7, 2007
Naughty Dog was renowned for making Crash Bandicoot and Jak and Daxter took a massive leap by developing the first Uncharted game. The first game was universally praised for combat, storytelling, and puzzle-solving.
Greatness From Small Beginnings
After a failed job in Indonesia, Nate reached out to a TV show host named Elena Fisher to fund his expedition to salvage Sir Francis Drake’s coffin off the coast of Panama in return for exclusive coverage. Nate managed to secure the coffin and was surprised to see it practically empty and Sir Francis Drake’s unfinished journal. A group of pirates tried to raid Elena’s ship; fortunately, Sully flew his plane and saved the two in the nick of time. As they docked on a nearby beach, Nate and Sully used the boat and left Elena stranded.
The Search for El Dorado
Nate skimmed through the journal leading them to an area that Sir Francis Drake believed to be El Dorado. The duo later realized that El Dorado was not a fabled city but a giant statue and stumbled upon a massive German U-Boat where Nate finds the final missing page of the journal. As he exits the ship, Nate is held at gunpoint by a fellow treasure hunter named Gabriel Roman and Atoq Navarro. Roman convinced Nate to give up the search but he refused and Sully was gunned down while Elena rescued Nate.
Nate and Elena Kicks It Off
Escaping on Sully’s plane, Nate figures out the next location and is accompanied by Elena. As they approached the next island, they were gunned down by Eddy Raja and his men who were working for Roman and Navarro to look for El Dorado. Nate discovered Sully survived thanks to Sir Francis Drake’s journal shielding him from the bullet and Roman forced him to help them. The trio discovered ancient ruins underneath the island and saw Sir Francis Drake’s remains surrounded by monstrous creatures caused by the cursed coffin. Roman opens the tomb and succumbs to the curse leading Navarro to gun him down and he intends to sell the coffin as a bioweapon. Nate stopped Navarro and threw him to the Pacific with the cursed coffin while Sully secured their exit with a boatload full of gold.
Uncharted 2: Among Thieves (2009)
Release Information
Uncharted 2: Among Thieves was released on October 13, 2009, for the PlayStation 3 and was remastered for the PlayStation 4 in the Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection which is playable on the PlayStation 5 via backward compatibility. Despite its age, this entry is considered by many as the best in the franchise/Uncharted timeline and sold over six million copies.
Double-Crossed, Again
Three years after discovering the truth behind El Dorado, Nate was pulled back into the game by Harry Flynn and Chloe Frazer for a new job that could lead to the treasure of Marco Polo. The trio broke into a museum in Turkey where they found some blue resin concealed in an oil lamp and a treasure map to Shambhala. As Flynn and Drake escape, Nate is double-crossed and thrown into a cell. Sully later bailed him out of prison with Chloe and revealed that Flynn was working for Zoran Lazarević, a warlord. The race to Shambhala was on.
Sabotaging Borneo
The trio catches up to Flynn and Lazarević in Borneo and they sabotage the dig site for the lost fleet. Later they found an ancient Tibetan dagger and a map leading to Nepal. Nate and Chloe head to Kathmandu and are surprised to see it war-torn while bumping into Elena and her cameraman, Jeff, as they document Lazarević’s war crimes. Elena pieced together what Nate was up to and accompanied him as they entered the marked temple. Nate used the dagger as a key to reveal Shambhala’s location but was ambushed by Lazarević as he killed Jeff in cold blood. Chloe decided to play both sides as Elena and Nate fought out of the city and boarded Lazarević’s train. After recovering the dagger from one of the goons, Flynn mortally wounds Nate, and in a ditch effort to escape, Nate ignites explosive barrels to derail the train. Cold and wounded, Nate was as good as dead until a good samaritan patched him up.
Among Thieves
Recovering from his wounds, Nate wakes up in a Tibetan village rescued by Tenzin and meets Karl Schäfer, a German on a similar expedition. Tenzin accompanied Nate into the last known location of Schäfer’s companions and learned that he killed them to protect the secrets of Shambhala. Nate and Tenzin were ambushed by the guardians with superhuman strength and made a hasty escape only to see the village in ruins. After clearing the mercenaries, Nate and Elena tracked down Lazarević at the entrance of Shambhala. Lazarević is after the source of the guardian’s power which is at the center of the Tree of Life. Nate thwarted his plan and destroyed the city of Shambhala to make sure no one could gain access ever again.
Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception (2011)
Release Information
- North America – November 1, 2011
- Europe – November 2, 2011
- Japan – November 2, 2011
- Australia – November 3, 2011
Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception is probably the least favored of the entire Uncharted series. Fans claimed that the globe-trotting was out of control and was more of the same. The game went on to sell six million units and was remastered alongside the original trilogy for the PlayStation 4.
Life After Among Thieves
After stopping Lazarević, Nate and Elena decided to settle down. Unfortunately, it was short-lived since Nate has commitment issues and is practically addicted to his life of treasure hunting. Elena became a foreign correspondent while Nate reconnected with Sully to search for Ubar also known as the Atlantis of the Sands with Chloe Frazer and Charlie Cutter. Their search brings them back to Katherine Marlowe’s radar conveniently since she has something Nate needs being the journal of T.E Lawrence and Francis Drake’s puzzle device. After narrowing their next destination to a French chateau and a Syrian temple, the group split into groups to speed up their progress.
Burning the French Chateau
Nate and Sully discovered half of an amulet and deduced the other half was in Syria, as they exited the building, Marlowe’s right-hand man, Talbot, intercepted them and burned the chateau. Nate and Sully rushed to Syria thinking that Chloe and Charlie were walking into a trap with Marlowe’s men in place but were surprised to see them unharmed with the amulet in their possession. Charlie gets drugged by Talbot and he willingly gives up the amulet and is forced to fight Nate.
As Charlie snaps out of it, Talbot sets the ruin ablaze and Charlie breaks his leg in the escape forcing him and Chloe to sit the adventure out to Yemen. Sully and Nate linked up with Elena and searched for the next clue together in the city.
Nate figures out the location of Ubar but gets drugged in the process and he wakes up in front of Marlowe who dug up his past and true heritage and then sent him to a pirate named Rameses. Nate escapes and tries to save Sully realizing he was never aboard the ship. Nate returns to Elena and reveals that Marlowe abducted Sully they plan to stow away on Marlowe’s plane to save their friend. Marlowe’s men discovered Nate was hiding on the plane causing it to crash.
Drake’s Deception
After crashing a plane on the Rub’ al Khali desert and stumbled onto an abandoned town full of Marlowe’s mercenaries. Nate takes the entire army by his lonesome and is rescued by Salim and his men, at their encampment, Salim reveals that Ubar is cursed because King Solomon trapped an evil Djinn and threw it to the city’s water supply. Nate and Salim stage an ambush on Marlowe’s caravan to rescue Sully and they enter the lost city of Ubar close behind Marlowe and Talbot.
Nate discovers the legends that Salim told were somewhat true and Marlowe intends to take the container concealing the so-called Djinn. Together with Sully, Nate sabotages Marlowe’s plan and destroys Ubar in the process. Salim came to their rescue and bid farewell. At the airport, Sully and Nate have a moment where Sully views him as the son he never had and reveals he held onto his ring for his marriage. Nathan Drake decided to let go of that life and rebuild his marriage with Elena aboard Sully’s new plane.
Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End (2016)
Release Information
Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End was released worldwide on May 10, 2016, exclusively for the PlayStation 4 and was later remastered for the PlayStation 5 and ported to PC. This entry was a massive hit and sold over 15 million copies, partly due to it being the final Nathan Drake entry in the Uncharted timeline.
The Normal Life
Set three years after Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception, Nathan Drake has left behind the life of a treasure hunter and traded it for a normal life with his wife, Elena Fisher. Working at Jameson Marine is as close as Nate can get to his old life being in the world as a scavenger. Jameson later approached Nate with a potential job in Malaysia but he declined citing the risks.
Elena convinces Nate to take the job to scratch the itch of treasure hunting but Nate is adamant about moving on. The next day, a man came knocking by his workplace and it turns out Sam survived the prison escape 15 years ago. Sam reveals how he survived and escaped and is indebted to a crime lord Hector Alcázar. Sam claims he must find the Gunsway Heist treasure to pay Alcázar for his freedom and has made progress in the search. Nate is reluctant to help but does anyway; however, he has to lie to Elena to keep Sam a secret.
The Malaysia Job
Sam tracked another cross being auctioned at the Rossi Estate in Italy and intends to steal it. Nate drags Sully along for one last job; however, Sam doesn’t trust him. During the auction, Sully runs into Nadine Ross, a mercenary for hire and an old friend working for Rafe Adler. Rafe inherited his parent’s fortune and decided to continue the search on his own by acquiring a cathedral in Scotland which was a dead-end, or so he thought. Sam and Nate stole the cross and it did point them into the direction of the enemy. In Scotland, Sam and Nate meet Nadine’s private army called Shoreline.
The Drake brothers discover the next clue is in Madagascar but get ambushed by Nadine and Sam triggers a trap to cover their escape. Without Rafe’s resources, Shoreline was ahead of the race but the Drakes had the upper hand. Nate deduced that Avery was assembling other pirate captains to pool their resources away from society on an island called Libertalia. As they are about to leave, Elena catches up with Nate’s lies and confronts them. Nate gives Sully the cold shoulder and asks him to watch over her as he and Sam leave for Libertalia.
A Thief’s End
On the island, Shoreline ambushed Nate and Sam causing their boat to crash. Marooned on an uninhabited island, Nate fought through the jungle to reunite with Sam discovered the hidden paradise of Libertalia, and trailed down the treasure to a village called New Devon. Nadine attacks the brothers and corners them where Rafe reveals he freed Sam from captivity two years ago and has been working with him since then. Sam lied to bring Nathan back thinking the treasure was meant for the both of them and failed to realize the consequences of his deception. Rafe had enough of Nate and tries to kill him but Sam gets in the way and falls off a cliff rescued by Elena.
Nate told Elena everything about his youth and his reluctance to talk about Sam in the past. The couple reconciles and works together to save Sam who is hellbent on finding the treasure. Nate saw himself in Sam and realized this addiction leads to more harm than good and accompanied him anyway to save him from himself. Nadine has had enough and claims they have collected enough loot and lost too many men. Rafe goads Nadine with her past failures and reveals he paid off some of her men like Orca for their loyalty. On Avery’s ship, Sam is pinned down and Rafe has them both at gunpoint but Nadine betrays Rafe and leaves them for dead.
Nate tried to reason with Rafe to work together to survive but he would rather die to share the same air leading to his demise by being crushed by treasure. Sam and Nate escape and parted ways as Sam feels empty leading him to work with Sully. Back at Jameson Marine, Elena intends to buy the property with a few trinkets Sam tucked away in their pockets ensuring his brother is looked after.
Uncharted: The Lost Legacy (2017)
Release Information
Uncharted: The Lost Legacy is the first entry without Nathan Drake and the final entry in the Uncharted timeline (for now). This spinoff was released worldwide in August 2017 for the PlayStation 4 later remastered for the PlayStation 5 with Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End as a bundle and ported to PC. Originally envisioned as downloadable content for the last game, Naughty Dog decided to turn this into a full-fledged game, albeit shorter than a regular Uncharted title.
From Mercenary to Treasure Hunter
Roughly a year later after the events of Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End, Chloe Frazer is searching for the Tusk of Ganesh and recruits Nadine Ross. After losing Shoreline, Nadine had no choice but to resort to the life of a treasure hunter. During the search, Chloe realized that Asav, another warlord, was looking for the Tusk to rally the people of India and start a civil war. Nadine and Chloe’s search leads them to the forests of India where they discover secret ruins honoring the Gods and bump into Sam Drake who is forced to work for Asav to search for the treasure. Chloe revealed Sam was working with her without Nadine knowing driving a wedge between the two.
An Unlikely Alliance
Nadine leaves Chloe to walk as she takes on Asav’s men. The duo eventually reconciled and put their differences aside to ensure that Asav doesn’t win. After being captured by Asav’s goons, the three treasure hunters were left to drown after Chloe solved the final puzzle revealing the Tusk. They later learned that Asav never wanted the Tusk for himself and used it as a bargaining chip for a bomb courtesy of Orca and Shoreline to destroy the nearby city. With the Tusk at hand, the trio accomplished their goal but Chloe is done running and decides to stop the train carrying the bomb. Sam and Nadine joined her suicide mission and eventually saved the town and killed Asav. Chloe and Nadine suggested giving the Tusk to the authorities whereas Sam wanted to sell it to a private collector.
The Epilogue
Years after successfully reviving Elena’s old show, Nathan Drake is happy and contented with his life as a salvager. The couple accomplished many things together and raised their daughter Cassie Drake who takes up a lot from her father and uncle. Before leaving for a trip, Cassie opened Nate’s private wardrobe containing treasures from his past adventures and saw a picture of him, Elena, and Sully on a dock full of treasure from Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune. Nate wanted to keep his former life a secret but decided to share it with his daughter anyway.
The Future of the Uncharted Franchise
Naughty Dog is arguably one of Sony’s biggest contributors and after a streak of massive hits from the Uncharted series and The Last of Us, there is no telling what the studio could do next. Shreds of evidence suggest that the next project could be a new IP; however, in a recent discussion from Nolan North and Troy Baker’s playthrough channel, the voice actors behind Nathan and Sam Drake, respectively, director Neil Druckmann suggested the studio could make another one.
Perhaps another spinoff game featuring Chloe and Nadine, a game focused on Sam, a young Sullivan, or a direct sequel starring Cassie. That concludes the entire Uncharted timeline, and this culminates a decade’s worth of hard work from game developers and a master class of game development.
For more Thumb Wars Gaming coverage, check out our explainer of the God of War timeline, or our list of reasons why a PlayStation handheld announcement is on the horizon.
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Rouvin Josef Quirimit is a Content Writer, an avid gamer (on his PlayStation 5 and Nintendo Switch), and film enthusiast. He was fortunate to grow up with the Marvel Cinematic Universe and was enamored by the storytelling of a shared universe full of heart and spectacle. His love for movies led him to great single-player games and he intends to cover major franchises for years to come!
