After a few years of hinting that The Last of Us Part 3 might be in the works, Naughty Dog’s Neil Druckmann seems to have a change of heart. In an interview with Variety about Season 2 of the The Last of Us television show Neil is asked about a third game.
“I was waiting for this question,” Druckmann says, sighing, when I bring up the prospect of a third game. “I guess the only thing I would say is don’t bet on there being more of ‘Last of Us.’ This could be it.”
Neil himself had previously said he does have a idea for Part 3. “I don’t have a story, but I do have that concept,” he stated back in February 2024. “That, to me, is as exciting as one, as exciting as two, is its own thing, yet has this through line for all 3. So it does feel like… there’s probably one more chapter to this story.”
Further back in 2021 Druckmann said he had the outline of a story and there had been “quite a bit” of discussion about the game.
This is not the first time Naughty Dog have done this, after the release of Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End, Naughty Dog Creative Director Shaun Escayg said “To say the Uncharted world is done… I doubt that highly,” and then a few years later, we were told quite bluntly they were “done” with franchise.
Naughty Dog’s next new game and franchise is Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet, a game that will see the studio leap into the realms of science fiction with a setting thousands of years in the future. However they have stated they are working on “multiple” single player games but clearly not Uncharted or The Last of Us.
The Variety interview also gives us a few hints of what to expect from Season 2 of the television show and from what Bella Ramsey is saying, that scene will be in this series.
“I’m scared of some of the bigger emotional scenes, leaving not satisfied with my performance,” she says, before explaining that that for “the darkest scene this season”, they listened to the song Peanut Butter Jelly Time. Why they did that is not explained, it’s a very shouty upbeat song and certainly not what would pop in to your head when someone’s head is po…. let’s not finish that sentence. “I was on the floor, my eyes absolutely burning with these menthol tears, and I’m just saying, ‘Peanut Butter Jelllll-y,’” adds Bella.
It is also revealed we will meet Eugene, played by Joe Pantoliano, a character who is only referenced in the game as the owner of the canabis den in which Ellie and Dina spend a night in.
Source: Variety
