Naughty Dog hasn't confirmed a third game, but there have been clues

The Last Of Us 3: Everything We Know About The Unconfirmed Game

Naughty Dog hasn't confirmed a third game, but there have been clues

The Last Of Us: Part III Could Happen "If The Stars Align"

The most recent comments about The Last of Us: Part III came from Naughty Dog's Neil Druckmann, who wrote and directed the first two games. During a promotional interview for The Last of Us Season 2, Druckmann was inevitably asked about a third game. He said he's not ruling it out, but he's not confirming it either.

"Back at Naughty Dog, we're now working on Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet, which is something we've been working on for many years. That is taking up all of our time," he said. "I am treating these projects like it's the last thing I will ever work on. So my assumption is that there will be no more [The Last of Us games]. If the stars align, and everything comes into place, who knows?"

Druckmann went on to say the story in the first The Last of Us was structured to have a "definitive ending" because he didn't know if he would get to make a sequel. But the game was a big success and Druckmann came back for The Last of Us: Part II. He said Naughty Dog didn't have to make the sequel because Naughty Dog owner Sony trusts the company enough to make its own decisions.

"But we had an idea [for The Last of Us: Part II] that we felt passionate about. It was a good enough idea to spend years on it. We worked on the story and felt like, 'OK, that story has come full circle. The definitive ending for this moment in time,'" he said.

"Probably One More Chapter"

In early 2024, Druckmann said in a making-of documentary for The Last of Us: Part II that he thought there was "probably one more chapter to this story."

"I've been thinking--is there a concept there [for The Last of Us III]? For now years, I haven't been able to find that concept. But recently that's changed. I don't have a story. But I do have that concept that is, to me, as exciting as 1, as exciting as 2," he said. "As its own thing, and yet has this throughline for all three. So it does feel like there's probably one more chapter to this story."

The documentary was seemingly filmed some time ago. It's an official production made in partnership with Naughty Dog. As such, presumably it includes only the information that was deemed acceptable to share publicly, including Druckmann's comments on a potential new Last of Us game. While Druckmann said he had a concept for The Last of Us: Part III, that's nowhere close to meaning it's a real game that Naughty Dog would actually develop.

Given the huge success and critical renown of the video game and TV series, it would follow that the powers that be might want to see the Last of Us franchise continue, if for no other reason than to make more money. That logic, however, could have also applied to Naughty Dog's Uncharted series, which ended nearly a decade ago with Uncharted 4 and has shown no signs of coming back anytime soon, or ever. As Druckmann has said, Naughty Dog is in the enviable position of being allowed by Sony to decide its future projects, and it could be that the studio simply wants to leave Uncharted and The Last of Us behind to make new stuff.

The Last Of Us: Part II Is A "Fine Ending Point"

If Naughty Dog never makes a third entry in the series, Druckmann said The Last of Us: Part II is a "fine ending point."

"I had the last bite of the apple. The story is done. The great thing about working at Naughty Dog is that we don't have to [make The Last of Us III]. We would love another Last of Us," he said, cautioning, though, that if the team wants to make something else, they'll make something else instead.

"It's a very privileged position to be in," he said.

Also in the interview, Druckmann clarified his comments from 2021 when he suggested he already had an outline for The Last of Us III. That's not true, he said. What he was referring to at the time was an outline for a story focusing on the character Tommy.

"We have written a story that takes place after The Last of Us 2. It stars Tommy. And I hope one day we get to make it," Druckmann said, adding that this was never conceived as a full game but instead a smaller, more focused story.

Naughty Dog did not make this Tommy game because the studio had "higher priorities" at the time, including improving the company's development pipeline and addressing the company's work/life balance issues that made headlines.

How The TV Show Factors In

The Last of Us Season 2 is the start of HBO's adaptation of The Last of Us: Part II, but showrunners and writers Neil Druckmann and Craig Mazin have maintained that it will take at least two seasons to tell the entire story of the game. With The Last of Us already renewed for a third season, that tracks. With there being no The Last of Us: Part III at this point, that is prompting many to wonder what a potential fourth season of The Last of Us could look like. But Mazin has no intention of running into a Game of Thrones-style issue where the TV adaptation goes beyond the events of the source material.

"I am not going to go past the game. I'll just say that flat out. So if people are thinking, 'Oh, these guys are planning the old cash grab thing…'" Mazin told The Hollywood Reporter.

"I'm basically setting a decade of my rapidly dwindling life on fire to tell this story. The show is so hard to make. It has to have an end. So I'm not going to go past. Who knows me, there might be a Dunk and Egg The Last of Us show that happens that somebody does. But for me, the only question is: Is it going to be one more season or will it require two more? If this can happen all in one more season, great. If we feel like it makes sense to break it into two, then we will do that."

Naughty Dog Has Two Single-Player Games In The Works

In 2023, after Naughty Dog canceled The Last of Us Online, the studio said it had at least two single-player games in development. One has been revealed to be Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet, but the other remains a mystery. Many people assume that it's The Last of Us: Part III. Reporter Daniel Richtman said in July 2023 that The Last of Us: Part III was in production.

When will The Last of Us: Part III be released?

The Last of Us: Part III has not been announced, so there is no word on when it could potentially be released. If Naughty Dog does decide to return to the series, it likely wouldn't be anytime soon, as Naughty Dog's new IP, Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet, is apparently not coming until 2027 at the soonest. A third Last of Us game would likely come later, if it does at all.

The Last of Us: Part III platforms

If Naughty Dog decides to make The Last of Us: Part III, it would inevitably show up on a PlayStation platform. Naughty Dog has released no brand-new games for PS5, and if Intergalactic isn't coming until 2027 or later, it begs the question about if a potential The Last of Us: Part III would launch on the rumored PlayStation 6.

Sony, which owns Naughty Dog, has begun to bring more of its first-party games to PC, but not usually at launch for single-player games.

The Last of Us: Part III Story, Setting, And Characters

[SPOILERS FOR THE LAST OF US: PART II FOLLOW]

The Last of Us: Part II ends with Ellie and Abby having their long-awaited faceoff. Ellie has an opportunity to kill Abby, but ultimately decides to spare her life after reflecting on what her father figure, Joel, might have wanted. Both Ellie and Abby survive, thus presenting an opportunity to continue to tell their story in a third game, but that's just pure speculation.

There is no word whatsoever at this point regarding what the story might be for a new The Last of Us game. There is also the possibility of a new The Last of Us game focusing on a different group of characters.

Who's developing The Last of Us: Part III?

Naughty Dog created The Last of Us series and would no doubt be the team to develop a third game, if it is indeed made. While everyone would expect Naughty Dog--and Druckmann--to oversee a new entry, the studio's past comments suggest that might not be the only possibility. After all, when Naughty Dog said it was done making Uncharted games, it said it would consider giving its blessing to a different studio to come in to make Uncharted 5.

Got a news tip or want to contact us directly? Email [email protected]

This story originally appeared on: GameSpot - Author:UK GAG