Neil Druckmann gives a new update on The Last Of Us Part 3, which now feels less likely.
In an interview to promote the upcoming second season of HBO’s The Last of Us, Neil Druckmann was asked about the possibility of The Last Of Us Part 3 video game happening and he gave this answer while sighing:
“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.”
He had previously said that he thought there is ‘one more chapter to the story.’
“The first game had such a clean concept of like, 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 you love, we felt like, ‘there’s a clean concept here and there’s a throughline from the first game, about love.’ If we never get to do it again, this is a fine ending point. Last bite of the apple, the story’s 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 you’re passionate about something else, we’ll support this other thing.’ Very privileged position to be in, I never take that for granted. I’ve been just thinking about it, ‘is there a concept there?’ And for now years, I haven’t been able to find that concept. But recently, that’s changed, and 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, and yet has this throughline for all three. So it does feel like there’s probably one more chapter to this story.”
What could’ve changed in the past year to get to his latest update? For one, he could be lying, but the other reason could just be that Naughty Dog is super focused on their upcoming projects, including Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet, which he recently shared will explore similar themes to TLOU such as loneliness, but apparently even more lonely. Here’s his exact quote, which is from Sony’s Creator to Creator series.
“I really wanted to make a game about faith and religion. But also about just being lonely. So many of the previous games we’ve done … there’s always an ally with you. I really want you to be lost in a place where you’re really confused about what happened here.”
“And, in order to get off this planet – no one has been heard from [on] this planet for 600 years – so if you ever hoped to have a chance to get off, you have to figure out what happened here.”
As for TLOU S2, Druckmann is more prepared this time for divisive fan reactions
Neil Druckmann also opened up about how he initially really struggled from the backlash to The Last of Us Part 2 , and doesn’t think the show reaction will effect him the same.
“I get hyper-fixated on stuff, so when I’m alone and I have time to think — and worse I have time to browse — that’s when it gets the most dangerous. I’m starting to doubt myself. ‘What if I did ruin it? What if I did make a piece of shit?’ Craig [Mazin] was saying, ‘Who cares what they think? I’m telling you it’s awesome. Listen to me.’”
“[For the series,] I love the changes we’ve made. It’s a different version of the story but the DNA is there. More than excited, I’m curious what the reaction will be.”
The game had a variety of reactions to one major twist in the story, which the creative team has implied will happen in the upcoming season of HBO’s The Last Of Us. Pedro Pascal also seemed to heavily hint at what’s going down — when asked about his thoughts on S2, he said, ‘It’s f*cking heartbreaking. [the showrunners] are sick people.’
Showrunners Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann also teased this season will feature some more infected lore from the games, including a stalker and spores finally becoming canon, with the latter being notably absent in the first season.
Next up for Naughty Dog is Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet. For more updates on The Last of Us S2, make sure to check out our TV section in the future.