Anyone looking forward to see Nathan Drake star in Uncharted: The Lost Legacy may have to deal with some disappointment, as Naughty Dog confirms the series' iconic protagonist won't be in the stand-alone DLC.

That said, the upcoming game will feature two characters whom Drake is familiar with: Chloe Frazer and Nadine Ross.

An 'Uncharted' Game Without Drake?

In a PlayStation Blog post, SIEA Social Media Director Sid Shuman outlined the details the development team provided surrounding The Lost Legacy, giving a preview of the expansion and adding that Drake won't appear in it.

"We entertained a few possible ideas around including Nate as a secondary character. But everything we did felt superfluous because we tied it all up with Uncharted 4," Josh Scherr, Uncharted 4: A Thief's End writer, says.

While Scherr may not have been clear enough about Drake's absence in The Lost Legacy, Game Director Kurt Margenau dispels any possibility and puts an end to any potential speculations.

"We're not going to touch on Nathan Drake in this, at all," he says.

Despite that, the expansion is not going to completely forget about Drake, IGN reports. This shouldn't come as much of surprise, though, since both Frazer and Ross each share a past with him — one an ex-girlfriend and the other a former enemy.

It's also worth noting that this was pretty much an expected development, as Margenau already said that A Thief's End was going to be Drake's "final chapter" during GameSpot's E3 2015 livestream, way before the fourth installment of the main series even rolled out.

Possible Explanation Why Drake Was Not Included

On an interesting note, Scherr and Margena jokingly hint at why Drake wasn't included in the DLC. It can be summed up to two words: Crash Bandicoot. Or to be exact, five: Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy.

"You can sort of imagine Drake sitting on the couch playing Crash Bandicoot while Chloe and Nadine are off galavanting," Scherr says.

"Yeah, the Crash Bandicoot remaster," Margenau adds.

The Lost Legacy Could Be The Last 'Uncharted' Game

On March 17, Copresident of Naughty Dog Evan Wells told Game Informer that it's "unlikely" for the company to make another Uncharted game after The Lost Legacy, but he didn't say never, though.

As for the DLC, it's going to focus on Frazer and her treasure hunt to get her hands on the Tusk of Ganesh, an Indian artifact. Meanwhile, Ross is thrown into the mix when Frazer hires her, as Ross's mercenary company Shoreline did go kaput in A Thief's End, which means she's probably looking for a job.

The Bottom Line

Long story short, Drake is being put on the sideline as Frazer and Ross step in as the protagonists of the stand-alone expansion The Lost Legacy.

With all said and done, how do you feel about Drake not appearing in an Uncharted game? Feel free to hit us up in the comments section below and let us know.