Neil Druckmann Clarifies His Previous Comments on the Possibility of The Last of Us Part 3

In an interview with Variety several weeks ago, The Last of Us creator Neil Druckmann had hinted that we may never see another entry to the widely acclaimed series of games from developer Naughty Dog. However, he recently provided clarification for his previous comments regarding another game in The Last of Us series and has now kept a more open-ended possibility regarding any future release.

While speaking to CTV’s Etalk, Druckmann has stated, “Every project I work on I treat it like it could be my last. I just pour everything into it and leave nothing on the table.”

“When we did the first Last of Us game, that’s how I treated it–I wasn’t sure I could ever get to make a sequel. It had to have a definitive ending. Likewise when I worked on Uncharted 4–same thing. [Same for] when I worked on The Last of Us 2–I was like, ‘I don’t know if I’ll ever get to do this again.’ It had this definitive ending.”

“For there to be another [game], another thing, another project. So many stars have to align, so I can’t guarantee it. Right now, my focus is on this season; hopefully if HBO renews us, next season. And then I am working on a new game called Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet. One project at a time,” Druckmann said.

Intergalactic is currently expected to arrive sometimes around 2027, which means even if Naughty Dog decides to make another game in The Last of Us series, it will be a very long time before it surfaces. But as Druckmann has clearly said in the previous interview, there isn’t any plan for another game, at least right now.

A possible reason why he sort of backtracked from his earlier comments regarding The Last of Us Part 3 is that if a series is announced to arrive at a point of definite end, it loses a lot of it’s appeal among the players as opposed to a series that remains open about any future directions which helps keep the games alive in some ways.