Naughty Dog boss Neil Druckmann has cast doubt on the possibility of third The Last of Us game, telling fans, “Don’t bet on there being more.”
Fans have been dreaming of a potential third entry in the series ever since the release of The Last of Us Part 2 in 2020. And while Naughty Dog and Sony have managed to remaster both the original The Last of Us (for a second time) and The Last of Us Part 2 since then, there’s been no concrete word of a third series instalment.
Which isn’t to say Naughty Dog has been entirely quiet on the matter. Back in 2021, Druckmann confirmed he’d penned a story outline for a potential The Last of Us Part 3 and admitted there’d been “quite a bit” discussion about a sequel. He addressed a possible third series entry again in 2023 – while Naughty Dog’s now-canned The Last of Us multiplayer game was still in the works – saying he was open to it, but only if the team could come up with a “compelling story”.
And if that wasn’t enough, Druckmann returned to the subject of The Last of Us Part 3 again last year, explaining that while he’d struggled to come up with a worthwhile concept for the game previously, “recently that’s changed”. And just to hammer home the point, he added, “So it does feel like there’s probably one more chapter to this story.”
All of which is to say that Druckmann’s left enough of a breadcrumb trail over the last few years, that a The Last of Us Part 3 feels like it might be closer to happening than not. And even though Naughty Dog is currently full steam ahead on its single-player sci-fi game Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet, the studio’s previous confirmation it had “multiple single-player projects” in the works, still left room for a glimmer of hope.
In a new interview with Variety, however, Druckmann has cast doubt on a possible The Last of Us Part 3. When asked about a potential third game, he replied, “I guess the only thing I would say is don’t bet on there being more of Last of Us. This could be it.”
Exactly why Druckmann is suddenly less keen to fan the flames of rampant speculation of a third The Last of Us game is unclear, but even if a new game never happens, there’s still new The Last of Us material on the way. HBO’s critically acclaimed live-action TV adaptation is soon set to return for a second season, which will begin covering the events of the second game.
However, Druckmann and series show runner Craig Mazin have previously confirmed the series will likely take two or three seasons to cover the events of The Last of Us Part 2, and it’s already clear plenty of new material will be in there. Recent season two casting news, for instance, has suggested the show will be more explicitly tackling events only mentioned in passing during the second game. And, of course, even if Naughty Dog never gets around to making The Last of Us Part 3, that doesn’t mean Druckmann’s story treatment for post-Part 2 couldn’t eventually make it to the small screen.
The Last of Us season two runs for seven episodes starting on 13th April in the US. And as for Naughty Dog’s Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet, there’s no hint of a release date for that.
