The Last of Us developer Naughty Dog may leave the series behind, according to Co-President Neil Druckmann. With the success of The Last of Us TV show creating a massive spike in sales for the games, it might seem like a no-brainer for the Sony-owned development studio to be working on the next entry, The Last of Us Part 3.
But according to an interview with Buzzfeed, Naughty Dog isn’t planning to rush out another entry in the world of fungal zombies and emotional struggles. Highlighting the studio’s fortune in being supported by Sony, Druckmann noted that they’ve left series behind before when the time is right.
“Just because something is successful, people think there’s all this pressure and we have to make a sequel,” said Druckmann. “That’s not the case. For us, Uncharted was insanely successful — Uncharted 4 was one of our best-selling games — and we’re able to put our final brushstroke on that story and say that we’re done. We’re moving on.”
That’s bad news for Uncharted fans hoping for the return of Nathan Drake, but does The Last of Us face the same fate? Following the introduction of Abbie in The Last of Us Part 2, the series no longer feels tied to the stories of the first game and TV show’s leads, Joel and Ellie. As such, there’s plenty of room to explore other journeys within the same world. What will determine if that actually happens? The imagination of the team at Naughty Dog.
“Likewise, with The Last of Us, it’s up to us whether we want to continue it or not,” Druckmann continued. “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.”
Leakers have previously claimed that The Last of Us Part 3 is already in development, but even if it isn’t, fans needn’t worry about having to wave a teary goodbye to the series just yet. Naughty Dog has already announced a multiplayer spinoff title, which could take the form of a free-to-play game. Details right now are slim, but for now, at least, there’s still life to come in The Last of Us universe.
Would you like to see The Last of Us Part 3 happen?
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