We’ve recently received some conflicting information about The Last of Us Part 3 from PlayStation. In 2021, we heard that an outline for the game’s script had been written, then in 2024, director Neil Druckmann said in a documentary that Part 3 wouldn’t be Naughty Dog’s next game, but a third installment in the future was likely.
Now in 2025, Druckmann has walked things back a little bit in an interview with Variety about the second season of the HBO adaptation by saying “I guess the only thing I would say is don’t bet on there being more Last of Us. This could be it.”
While information on a hypothetical threequel is all over the place, a large part of me hopes that there’s a semblance of truth in Druckmann’s latest statement.
If I Ever Were To Lose You
The Last of Us Two Ellie Guitar Bracelet
I love The Last of Us. The two games are some of my absolute favorites of all time, but I also believe that they tell a cohesive and fully fleshed-out story. If things were to end with Part 2, I’d be completely satisfied.
The story told across both games is centered almost entirely on the relationship between Joel and Ellie and now that Joel is dead (spoilers) and Ellie has moved on (spoilers again, sorry) it feels like the story has reached its natural conclusion.
There are still places a potential third game could go with Ellie’s complicated relationship with Dina and their son, or the series could leave Ellie behind entirely and focus primarily on Abby and Lev in a completely different part of the country, but I feel like expanding on those parts of the story, while likely interesting, simply aren’t necessary.
One of the reasons The Last of Us Part 2 is so compelling is its ending. It’s a punch to the gut that resonates because of its finality as Ellie lets go of Joel and the trauma surrounding his death while accepting that chasing the irrational thirst for revenge has taken away everything she should have been fighting for. When I think about a follow-up to Part 2, I often come back to the same question: what more could I possibly want?
I’d Surely Lose Myself
Naughty Dog has one of the strongest identities of any studio working today and it’s going to continue making excellent games. I feel like when people talk about wanting more out of The Last of Us, they’re oftentimes actually saying that they want more out of Naughty Dog.
The Last of Us is great, but now that the series has run its course and the last game ended on such a strong note, why not simply look forward to what the future holds?
Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet was revealed at the 2024 Game Awards and based on the brief glimpse we received, the game looks like it’s going to hit just as hard as The Last of Us while exploring other central themes. For me, that’s a much more interesting direction for the studio to go in.
Saying goodbye to The Last of Us doesn’t mean saying goodbye to Naughty Dog. The studio is still going to be working on new, top-notch titles for PlayStation that will be just as good or even better than The Last of Us if the studio’s current record of hits means anything.
Plus, if you’re sad that there’s no new Last of Us content, it sounds like we’ll be getting at least two more seasons of the HBO adaptation based on what the showrunners have said. There’s plenty of The Last of Us to go around without a third game and with how well Naughty Dog tied things up at the end of Part 2, I’m not even sure most people actually want more. I’m certainly fine with replaying the games every few years and letting it go. At the very least, fans can expect both games to be remastered and rereleased whenever the PS6 hits store shelves.
- Released
-
June 19, 2020
- ESRB
-
M for Mature: Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Nudity, Sexual Content, Strong Language, Use of Drugs