After months of rumors, Neil Druckmann officially speaks out about The Last of Us 3 to confirm the sequel many gamers have been waiting for.
The Last of Us quickly established itself as one of the strongest licenses in the PlayStation portfolio. At the beginning of 2023 alone, more than 37 million sales were recorded worldwide. Since then, there has been a remake, a TV series that won everything that came its way, and a remaster. The success of Naughty Dog’s license peaked last year and the announcement of The Last of Us 3 was just a formality. Rumors have been circulating for many months that we will soon be able to put the condition behind us.
The Last of Us 3 officially in development
After the phenomenal success of the HBO series and Naughty Dog’s efforts to update previous episodes, we suspected it wouldn’t stop there. The misadventures of Ellie, Abby and Joel could have served as a conclusion to this already impressive saga, but the California studio has other stories to tell. Neil Druckmann, co-director of the franchise, had already more or less opened his mouth in 2021 and said that a draft for The Last of Us 3 had already been scribbled. Since Naughty Dog refused to confirm whether this third episode was one of their next games, this is now confirmed.
In the documentary about the making of The Last of Us Part 2, Druckmann finally confirmed that a third episode was in development or at least still in the concept phase a few months ago. A work that obviously deals fundamentally with the themes of its predecessors, but whose story and words will be part of the continuity of the saga.
The first game was about the unconditional love that parents feel for their child. The second game was about the pursuit of justice at all costs, justice for those you love. It seemed to us that there was a clear concept and continuity with the first game about love. If we never get the chance to remake a game, that’s a good end point. One last part, the story is over.
I was wondering if there is a concept for a sequel here? And for years I couldn’t find it, but recently things have changed. I don’t have the story yet, but I have a concept that is just as exciting to me as the others and stands on its own while having a common storyline for all three games. So there will probably be another chapter to this story.
Neil Druckmann, about The Last of Us 3
Another game in the meantime
Druckmann also returned to his headline-grabbing statement. He explains that he once wrote a story centered on Tommy. “ I hope we can do it one day. It was always a short story, never a full game “, he clarified. At that time, the studio was primarily concerned with improving the working conditions of its employees and improving production. The story in question was eventually discarded. “ I believe that one day she will see the light of day. I don’t know if it will be a game or a TV series“. Enough to further fuel hopes for a spin-off of the HBO series The Last of Us.
However, The Last of Us 3 will not be Naughty Dog’s next game. As a reminder, rumors point to an entirely new license that would revolve around either science fiction or fantasy. It has been in development for several years and logically should appear on our PS5s. It’s difficult to be so optimistic about the next episode of TLOU. Since the story hasn’t been written yet, it will probably take a while for pre-production to begin. We’ll probably have to wait until the PS6 or whatever the next generation of consoles are called. Since the documentary was filmed in April 2023, there’s a good chance things have moved on since then. At what point? Hard to say, although a rumor from a reliable source suggests that motion capture could have started at the end of 2023.
