Today Naughty Dog released the documentary Grounded II: Making The Last of Us Part II, and the series' creative director and writer Neil Druckmann had a tease to share at the end.
Druckmann explained that a previously mentioned story starring Tommy has been shelved, and was never supposed to be a full title anyway.
On the other hand, he has found a concept for a possible another chapter, which would be "its own thing" while also having a "throughline for all three."
First, Druckmann talked about the story about Tommy, mentioning that he still believes that we'll see it realized in some form at some point.
I did some other interview where someone asked me about The Last of Us and would there be any more stories or something, and I mentioned, "You know, we have written a story that takes place after Last of Us [Part] II, that stars Tommy and I hope one day we get to make it."
And the headlines across the industry were like, "Naughty Dog has outlined Last of Us Part III" and that's actually wrong. It was always a small story. It was never like a full title. 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 want to prioritize that story so, that story was shelved.
And I still believe one day it'll see the light of day. I don't know if it's a game or a show, TBD.
He then talked about the concepts behind the two games and what connected them, mentioning that the story is done, and if there isn't a sequel it would be a fine ending. He also appreciates the fact that the company is willing to support other projects the team feels passionate about.
The first game is 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 love, it feel like there was a clean concept here, and there is a throughline from the first game, about love.
If we never get to do it again, this is a fine ending point and the last bite of the apple, the story is done. The great thing about working at Naughty Dog is that we don't have to. It's always like, "We would love another Last of Us, but if you guys feel passionate about something else, we'll support this other thing." It's a very privileged position to be in. I'd never take that for granted.
Yet, while he hasn't been able to find a concept for a new The Last of Us game, he finally has, and while he doesn't have a story yet, that concept feels as exciting as the previous games, continuing that throughline.
I've been just 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 1, as exciting as 2, is it's own thing, and yet has this throughline for all three. So it does feel like there's probably one more chapter to this story.
It's worth mentioning that Druckmann stopped short of promising that there will be a The Last of Us Part III, but he did mention that he feels like there's probably another chapter to the franchise's story, so we can at least hope that that concept will be realized.
You can watch the full documentary below. It's certainly interesting for those who love the franchise.
If you're unfamiliar with the franchise, it's an ultra-popular post-apocalyptic adventure game series that originally debuted in 2013 for PS3 with the first The Last of Us, and was then remastered for PS4 only a year later. The remake titled The Last of Us Part I was then released for PS5 in 2022, and it launched on PC in 2023.
The sequel, titled The Last of Us Part II was released to critical acclaim for PS4 in 2020 and Naughty Dog just released The Last of Us Part II Remastered, adding a fresh coat of paint on PS5.
Recently, Naughty Dog canceled a multiplayer experience that was in development within the franchise, and we also heard that the studio has been working on a single-player game. That being said, considering that Drukmann mentions that, for now, he has only a concept for the possible next TLOU game, it's likely that the game currently in the works belongs to a different franchise.
