Naughty Dog Makes No Promises Of The Last Of Us Part III

January 26, 2023 Gabriel Stanford-Reisinger

The Last of Us has been the most successful game Naughty Dog made since dabbling in the Uncharted series. Much like that series, though, it may just be another series that the studio will move on from.

Speaking with Buzzfeed, Naughty Dog boss Neil Druckmann addressed the rumors of a third entry to the main story. Currently, the studio is in the process of making a standalone multiplayer game sharing the same universe, one that’s been brandished as its most ambitious project to date.

If the studio can’t figure out what to do with the narrative going forward, they’re going to move on from it rather than beating a dead horse. This is, from what Druckmann said, the same thing they did with Uncharted where they tied the story together enough to step back and declare it done. Similarly, they had a “strong ending” for The Last of Us Part II to drop it if they have to.

What they’ll move on to is a mystery, but with Druckmann mentioning he’s been inspired by Elden Ring‘s lack of a spoken narrative earlier this month, we can assume they may dabble in that style for a spell.

Druckmann On Naughty Dog Developing Part III

“… it’s up to us whether we want to continue it or not. 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.”

Related