Naughty Dog is currently working on its next title, Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet and it was said that they had to drop the Last of Us multiplayer game to make it happen.
While some fans think Part III of TLOU may be on the back burner for now, game director Neil Druckmann hints that it may not happen.
No The Last of Us Part III?
In a recent talk with Variety, Druckmann was asked about the status of a third game, to which he replied, “I was waiting for this question… I guess the only thing I would say is don’t bet on there being more of Last of Us. This could be it.”
Druckmann doesn’t go into any more details as to why he came up to that decision, but anyone paying attention knows that there’s more to Ellie’s story—even Druckmann had said so himself.
‘There’s Probably One More Chapter to This Story’
Since The Last of Us Part II was released, Druckmann has been open about telling more of Ellie’s story. In the documentary about the making of the game Grounded II, which came out last year, Druckmann explains:
“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 its own thing, yet has this through line for all three… So it does feel like there’s probably one more chapter to this story.”
The overall story has just too many loose ends. With Abby and Lev on their journey to meet the Fireflies, there’s a lot of room for the story to explore what they’ve been up to and how they still plan to save the world.
Speaking of the big elephant in the room, there’s also the case of Ellie’s immunity to the Cordyceps plague. It was one of the driving elements of her importance in the first game, and it was kind of dropped for Part II. With Part III, maybe Ellie could finally be the one to decide what to do with her immunity and how it can help humanity.
There’s Still the Series
Even if Druckmann doesn’t plan to make a third game, it’s possible that Ellie and Abby’s arc could be completed with the TV series. The show expects a four-season run, and The Last of Us Part II’s story is expected to be completed by Season 3.
It’s possible that Season 4 could cover what Druckmann wanted to make for the third game, but admittedly, it would be a shame if it was just for the series and not an actual game where players could become more immersed in the story.
I hope Druckmann is just playing around. Watch out for The Last of Us Season 2, which is expected to hit Max this April.