Will there or won’t there be a The Last of Us Part 3? It’s the question fans have been asking for the entirety of the PlayStation 5 console generation, and it’s one that Naughty Dog remains extremely coy about completely answering. After conflicting signals about whether the studio would ever return to that well for a new video game, we now have fresh confirmation that it’s definitely working on something Last of Us-related. Multiple somethings, in fact.
In a new update on the studio’s website, Naughty Dog head Neil Druckmann said two new projects that will expand the story of The Last of Us series are in “very early stages.” Here’s the full excerpt:
Since [2024’s behind-the-scenes documentary] Grounded II, we’ve talked about the possibility of telling more stories in the world of The Last of Us.
We have a couple of very exciting new projects in very early stages – so we can’t say much about them at this point. I will tell you that both projects will expand the canon of The Last of Us beyond Part I and Part II.
The world of The Last of Us means a great deal to us, and we wouldn’t return to it unless we had something meaningful to say. We believe these stories are worth telling.
It’s worth noting here that the use of “projects” means these aren’t necessarily games. Although they certainly could be, they could also be new transmedia collaborations. While HBO’s The Last of Us adaptation is seemingly set to wrap after season 3, and thus conclude with the final events of Part II, it’s possible Naughty Dog is looking at ways of telling entirely new Last of Us stories strictly for film or streaming. I mean, Druckmann could be talking about a comic book for all we know, though I suspect the studio wouldn’t tease fans like this if that were the case.
We were supposed to get at least one new Last of Us game this console generation, The Last of Us Online, but the project was ultimately canceled in the home stretch over concerns about the need for post-launch support potentially monopolizing too much of Naughty Dog’s future development resources. With the studio still focused on getting Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet out the door, I suspect we don’t actually see what these new projects are for some time.