The success of the previous The Last of Us game would obviously suggest that Naughty Dog isn't going to leave money on the table by deciding not to develop a third adventure, but nothing is guaranteed - yet!
Rumors began to do the rounds that development was already underway on Part III early last year, but co-creator Neil Druckmann debunked the reports soon after.
However, the Naughty Dog co-president did later offer a slightly more positive update.
“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 told Buzzfeed. “All I could say is, at Naughty Dog we’re very, very privileged that our publisher is Sony — which means Sony funds our games, supports us, and we’re owned by Sony."
“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.”
“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.”
Part II concluded with Ellie deciding not to allow vengeance to consume her completely by sparing Abby's life and returning home (a couple of fingers short) to find that Dina and baby JJ had left. She picks up her guitar, strums Pearl Jam's "Future Days," and thinks back to the night she made an effort to forgive Joel and attempted to mend their strained relationship.
It's a powerful, haunting final sequence, and as Druckmann rightly points out, would serve as a fitting end to the story if a third game never happens. The thing is, Part III might just see the light of day at some point!
In the new Grounded II: Making The Last of Us Part II feature documentary, Druckmann reveals that he does have a concept in mind for a follow-up to Part II, noting that the story is “as exciting as I, as exciting as II, is its own thing, yet has this through-line for all three.”
He doesn't reveal any details, but does reiterate that, if another game simply isn't meant to be, he sees Part II as a more than satisfactory conclusion.
“The first game had such a clean concept of the unconditional love a parent feels for their child. The second one, once we landed on this idea of the pursuit of justice at any cost, justice for the ones you love, it felt like there’s a clean concept here and there’s a through-line from the first game about love. If we never get to do it again, this is a fine ending point. The last bite of the apple, the story’s done.”
The Last of Us Part II Remastered is now available on PS5. Check out the doc below (it's well worth a watch), and let us know what you'd like to see from a third game in the comments section.