18 new positions have opened up at Naughty Dog. As advertised on its official careers page, these jobs range from artists to programmers and even audio designers.
Naughty Dog is currently wrapping up development for its upcoming Uncharted 4 DLC titled The Lost Legacy. It also has a sequel to The Last of Us in production. However, both of these titles began development as early as 2014, raising questions as to whether or not this hiring spree is related to any confirmed-in-production titles.
Following early success on the PS3, Naughty Dog expanded its studio around 2010~ to take on two AAA titles at once. This resulted in Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception and The Last of Us releasing within 19 months of one another, both of which went on to win game of the year awards.
With The Lost Legacy wrapping up development, combined with Naughty Dog showing disinterest in continuing the Uncharted franchise in the foreseeable future, there's a high probability that a new IP is in development. If so, it's likely in its early stages and won't see release for at least another two to three years.
Naughty Dog's studio is located in Santa Monica, California where it employs more than 300 employees.