The Last of Us 2's director has said its up to Naughty Dog if there's another game in the series or not.
"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," Naughty Dog co-president Neil Druckmann told Buzzfeed in a new interview, before adding that the studio is "very privileged" to have Sony as its publisher.
Druckmann says this means Naughty Dog is entirely free of any pressure to make a sequel that they don't want to. There won't be another Uncharted game, Druckmann says, because of this strong relationship with Sony and the absence of any pressure from the publisher.
"With The Last of Us, it's up to us whether we want to continue or not," Druckmann said. "Our process is the same thing we did when we did Part 2, which is if we can come up with a compelling story that has this universal message and statement about love — just like the first and second game did — then we will tell that story. If we can't come up with something, we have a very strong ending with Part 2 and that will be the end."
What's interesting about this final comment is that Druckmann previously stated in 2021 that there was a plot outline for The Last of Us Part 3. The director's new comments potentially mean that the story idea was strong enough for Naughty Dog to follow through on, and could have been left on the cutting room floor while work was continuing on other projects (like the new Last of Us multiplayer game).
Just earlier this month, Druckmann said in another interview that there was still "more story to tell" in the world of The Last of Us, but wouldn't explicitly confirm The Last of Us 3. The potential for a new game is clearly causing some discussion at Naughty Dog, but it's unclear if said discussion will ever lead to another game in the hit series.
Check out our new games 2023 guide for a look at all the PlayStation games we've got to look forward to throughout the year.
After telling The Last of Us fans don't "bet on" a Part 3, Neil Druckmann says "so many stars have to align, I can't guarantee it" but he treats every game "like it could be my last"
The Last of Us director Neil Druckmann wanted to make sure the first game "was complete" because "I wasn't sure they would ever let me direct a game again"
