Naughty Dog on TLOU Part III: “There is one more chapter to the story”

Shortly following the launch of The Last of Us Part II Remastered, Naughty Dog released Grounded II: Making The Last of Us Part II. The two-hour long documentary holds many revelations within it, but one of the most interesting is the fact that Naughty Dog’s next game is not a sequel to TLOU as many expected – though “there is one more chapter to the story.”

Based on previous interviews featuring Neil Druckmann, many fans believed that the team at Naughty Dog have been working on a Last of Us Part III for a while now. According to the man himself however, this is in fact not the case, saying during the documentary (and as transcribed by ResetEra user Mattmo831):

“I did some other interview where someone asked me about The Last of Us, and would there be any more stories or something. I mentioned we have written a story that takes place after Last of Us II that stars Tommy. I hope one day we get to make it. The headlines across the industry were like, ‘Naughty Dog Has Outlined The Last of Us Part III.' And that's actually wrong. It was always a small story, it was never a full title.”

Speaking on this smaller spin-off, Druckmann continued, “At the time, we had higher priorities at Naughty Dog, to fix our pipeline, to fix work-life balance issues. Just based on where we were, I didn't wanna prioritise this story, so that story was shelved. I still believe one day it will see the light of day. I don't know if it'll be a game or a show… TBD.”

All that said, it seems as though a 3rd entry in The Last of Us will happen eventually, with Druckmann revealing that an actual Part III has since been conceptualised, saying:

“I've been thinking about, ‘Is there a concept there?’ And 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, to me, is as exciting as I, as exciting as II, 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.”

The ending of The Last of Us Part II is a bittersweet one, and could certainly serve as the end of the franchise. That said, the best things always come in threes – and so hopefully The Last of Us Part III does eventually come to fruition.

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KitGuru says: What did you think of Part II’s ending? Would you like to see a 3rd game? What would you like it to be about? Let us know down below.

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