Naughty Dog’s The Last of Us Part 2 was released almost year ago and is still hotly discussed for its story and ending. Obviously, fans have wondered when Part 3 could be expected. Though it currently isn’t in development, creative director Neil Druckmann noted on the Script Apart podcast (transcription via IGN) he and co-writer Halley Gross do have a story outline for the same.
“I don’t know how much I want to reveal… [co-writer Halley Gross] and I did write an outline for a story, that we’re not making – but I hope one day can see the light of day – that explores a little bit what happens after this game. We’ll see.” Internally, there’s been “quite a bit” of discussion about The Last of Us Part 3. In the end though, it comes down to how much work is required.
“These games take so much to make. [Part 2], I’ve been thinking about it for seven years, between when the last game came out and when this came out […] You want to make sure you’re jazzed by the idea that you have, [that] it feels like it’s challenging. We’ve now had two games that I feel speak to something universal as well as telling a very personal story for these characters. With one game, there’s no pattern of what a franchise is. With two games, now there’s starting to be a pattern – now I feel like there are some structural and thematic themes you’d have to stick to if you’re making a third game.”
As for what’s coming next, Druckmann said, “After we finish one of our big titles, we take a long time to explore different ideas, whether it’s going to be Last of Us 3, whether it’s something new, whether there’s some old franchise we want to go back to. I like to fully explore all of those, then look at, like: okay, we have all of these ideas in front of us. As a studio, what do we want to commit to? Because it’s a huge commitment – monetary, time, passion, talent, so you think about all the opportunity costs that come with that.”
Studio president Evan Wells indicated that some of Naughty Dog’s projects are in pre-production while one major project demands the lion’s share of attention. The studio’s inability to pursue multi-project development is apparently the reason why The Last of Us Remake was greenlit as well, though the developer is also working on multiplayer project (which may be Factions mode for The Last of Us Part 2). As for The Last of Us Part 3, it’s going to be a long wait so stay tuned.