It seems that Naughty Dog is working on new projects for The Last of Us franchise, according to a comment from Neil Druckmann. Naughty Dog has quickly risen to one of the most prestigious and respected video game developers out there. While they’ve always been well regarded, games like Uncharted and especially The Last of Us series elevated the studio to new heights. Naughty Dog earned high praise for its highly cinematic stories, exciting gameplay, and rich characters. However, The Last of Us has been the focus for Naughty Dog for some time now. The two games have been re-released in various formats and The Last of Us HBO series has been a huge hit.
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Many assumed that a third game would happen given all of Naughty Dog’s success with the series, but then the studio went on to announce a new IP that couldn’t be further removed from the post-apocalyptic franchise. Naughty Dog is working on other projects, but Neil Druckmann is steering the ship on the studio’s most prominent project. Druckmann has also been cagey about committing to The Last of Us Part 3. While he isn’t ruling it out, he also isn’t committed to saying it’s coming, suggesting it may not be in the works at all right now.
Neil Druckmann Confirms Unannounced Last of Us Projects
With that said, things may have changed. In a new interview with Variety, Druckmann talked about his decision to leave The Last of Us TV series as co-showrunner. His biggest reason was because it was becoming too difficult to balance his work at Naughty Dog and Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet with the needs of a massive television show. However, he also let something else slip, such as the fact he is working on new projects pertaining to The Last of Us franchise outside of the TV series.
“I looked at what’s in front of me, what would the next season might look like, and with all the various “Last of Us” things I’m working on — not just the show — with all the various games I’m working on, the biggest one that takes up most of my time is “Intergalactic: The Heretic Profit,” our next big IP for Naughty Dog and PlayStation, it felt like I could better serve all of my responsibilities if I stayed at a higher level,” said Druckmann.
This wasn’t a one-off comment either, he reaffirmed this later in the interview as well. Druckmann confirmed that there are more unannounced Last of Us projects being cooked up right now, but neglected to share any specifics. “And there’s more stuff happening in “The Last of Us” world that has not been announced,” he said.
Could this be a revival of the cancelled multiplayer Last of Us game? Some other single player Last of Us spin-off centered around a character like Tommy? Maybe it really is The Last of Us Part 3. It could be a comic book, another Halloween Horror Nights haunted house, or something else entirely. Either way, the double confirmation does feel notable given Druckmann has been so cagey about it in the past. It was entirely unprompted, which could mean this is a tease for fans who were bummed about the lack of a new game. Only time will tell what happens.
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