Naughty Dog May Move On from The Last of Us Like It Did with Uncharted

Jan 07, 2024

Neil Druckmann makes no promises about a Part 3

In the last year or two, there has been a lot of speculation and rumours surrounding a supposed The Last of Us: Part III. Naughty Dog is currently working on its big, standalone, multiplayer game set within the same universe, but a full-on third entry to the main story is apparently not set in stone at this stage. Neil Druckmann, speaking with BuzzFeed, has addressed the topic, commenting that the studio may move on from The Last of Us if it can't work something out for a Part 3.

"I know there's a bunch of people wondering about The Last of Us Part 3 and whether that will be a thing or not," Druckmann says. "All I could say is, at Naughty Dog we're very, very privileged that our publisher is Sony ... They have supported us every step of the way to follow our passions — meaning that just because something is successful, people think there's all this pressure and we have to make a sequel. That's not the case."

He continues, pointing to Uncharted 4: A Thief's End as one of its most commercially successful releases, but that it was able to move on from the franchise and pursue its passions. "Likewise, with The Last of Us, it's up to us whether we want to continue it or not," Druckmann says.

He explains that if Naughty Dog "can come up with a compelling story that has this universal message and statement about love", the team will make it happen. If not, "we have a very strong ending with Part 2 and that will be the end".

So, outside of The Last of Us Factions, or whatever the multiplayer game is called, the future of the series is unclear. Druckmann did say a while ago that an outline for a potential third game had been written, so you never know.

Would you like to see The Last of Us continue with another main game, or is it time to move on? Tell us in the comments section below.

[source buzzfeed.com, via videogameschronicle.com]