Uncharted 4 game director Neil Druckmann spoke in an interview with Official PlayStation Magazine UK about some of the prominent themes present in the highly anticipated action-adventure title, which is due to be released early next year.

Druckmann highlighted protagonist Nathan Drake's struggle to choose between his loved ones and his personal passions.

"With Uncharted 4, as we were building it we were realizing more and more what the theme is: it's that balance between pursuing your passions and being with the ones you love, and what happens when you have to choose between those two things," Druckmann said, according to PlayStation Universe.

Game developer Naughty Dog has already acknowledged that this fourth outing will be treasure hunter Nathan Drake's last. Whether or not the action hero will survive remains to be seen, but if he does -- as Drake has a tendency to repeatedly escape the most dire of circumstances -- then players might assume that he ultimately chooses the love of friends and family over his love of adventure.

Druckmann said much of Drake's story will concern his search for that personal compromise.

"Is there a way to reconcile that? That's the message of this game, and everything is constructed around that very simple concept," the director said.

The same interview also included Uncharted 4 writer Josh Scherr, who wondered if the series could continue without Nathan Drake in the lead. He said it was hard to imagine, but it was a possibility.

"I think one thing that's been great about this series is that we have created this ... I hate to use the word 'universe' because Marvel's been overusing it, but we've created this world where ancient civilizations remain undiscovered and lots of charismatic and unscrupulous treasure hunters exist to go and pursue these," Scherr said.

Uncharted 4: A Thief's End is set for release on PlayStation 4 on March 18, 2016. The game was recently delayed, as the developers wanted ample time to perfect the conclusion to Drake's story.