Druckmann Open To “The Last of Us Part III”

At last report it wasn’t clear if game developer Naughty Dog would ever do “The Last of Us Part III” following the franchise’s “Factions” live-service title being abandoned during development. Naughty Dog boss Neil Druckmann first hinted that a third instalment in the series was a possibility in the “Grounded II: The Making of The […] The post Druckmann Open To “The Last of Us Part III” appeared first on Dark Horizons.

May 23, 2025 - 06:00

Druckmann Open To “The Last of Us Part III”

At last report it wasn’t clear if game developer Naughty Dog would ever do “The Last of Us Part III” following the franchise’s “Factions” live-service title being abandoned during development.

Naughty Dog boss Neil Druckmann first hinted that a third instalment in the series was a possibility in the “Grounded II: The Making of The Last of Us Part II” documentary released in early 2024, saying at the time “there’s probably one more chapter to this story”.

Then the tune changed with a comment back in March this year where he said “don’t bet on” there being any more titles in the franchise. That seemed to be it, but talk came up again recently after Druckmann revealed that a team at the studio is working on a secondary game – one he’s only a supervisor on as he’s busy with “Intergalactic” and the HBO series.

Speaking with Sacred Symbols this week, he was asked if they planned to revisit the world with a third game – be it prequel set in the twenty-year gap between Sarah’s death and Joel meeting Ellie, to a sequel set after the events of “The Last of Us Part II”.

He indicates there are no plans at present but he’s open to the possibility so long as it’s of high quality:

“I meant what I said in the documentary… while I am the caretaker of this franchise, whatever the the right title is that Sony has entrusted me with, it’s important that everything is of high quality. I don’t want to just make a lot of it, I just want to be very thoughtful about everything that we make.
If we were ever to come back to it, I want to make sure it’s a story worthy of ‘The Last of Us’. I love that world, I love these characters, with the right opportunity, with the right idea, yeah, I would totally jump at it.”

Druckmann also confirmed something that was ambiguous until recently – that the Fireflies actually could’ve made a cure from Ellie, as opposed to it being uncertain in the game: “I can say our intent was that they would have made a cure. That makes the most interesting philosophical question for what Joel does.”

The comments come after the second season finale episode of the HBO series adaptation reportedly leaked online yesterday following a Reddit user (via Movieweb) claiming the finale appeared to have accidentally been made available early via an Apple TV Season Pass before its premiere on HBO and Max this Sunday.

HBO and Warner Bros. quickly copyright-striked the leak, but that hasn’t stopped clips and screen captures from floating around.

The post Druckmann Open To “The Last of Us Part III” appeared first on Dark Horizons.