Naughty Dog has been focused on making games for Uncharted and The Last of Us since 2007. With the recent release of Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves Collection on the PC and the upcoming launch of The Last of Us Part 1 on the same platform, the Sony first-party studio may be ready to move on from its marquee franchises.
The studio’s co-president Neil Druckmann revealed to BuzzFeed that the studio will only continue to The Last of Us if they can still create a compelling story and the studio has written the last chapter of Uncharted.
“I know there’s a bunch of people wondering about The Last of Us Part 3 and whether that will be a thing or not,” Druckmann said. “All I could say is, at Naughty Dog we’re very, very privileged that our publisher is Sony — which means Sony funds our games, supports us, and we’re owned by Sony.”
He adds, “They have supported us every step of the way to follow our passions — meaning that just because something is successful, people think there’s all this pressure and we have to make a sequel. That’s not the case. For us, Uncharted was insanely successful — Uncharted 4 was one of our best-selling games — and we’re able to put our final brushstroke on that story and say that we’re done. We’re moving on.”
Naughty Dog released Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End in 2016 and has not expanded on the story afterward. Nate and Elena retired at the end of Uncharted 4 which is a strong indication that the series is done. Sony is also reportedly interested in rebooting the series with another studio.
Likewise, with The Last of Us, it’s up to us whether we want to continue it or not,” Druckmann continues. “Our process is the same thing we did when we did Part 2, which is if we can come up with a compelling story that has this universal message and statement about love — just like the first and second game did — then we will tell that story. If we can’t come up with something, we have a very strong ending with Part 2 and that will be the end.”
Druckmann teased in 2021 that they have written the outline for The Last of Us Part 3. However, the studio has not started developing it. He also teased that he thinks that “there’s more story to tell” with The Last of Us.
Naughty Dog is currently working on a multiplayer spin-off to The Last of Us. The studio has showcased the concept art revealing that the game will be set in San Francisco.
“We’ve been pretty open that the next Last of Us game is going to be this multiplayer experience, where you’ll be able to enter the world of The Last of Us with your friend and get to experience the tension and the brutality of that world — and a brand new story and cast of characters that live in another city that we haven’t seen yet in the world of The Last of Us,” Druckmann shared. “This is going to be another chapter in the universe of The Last of Us.”
The Last of Us live-action TV series is currently drawing massive viewership numbers on HBO en route to securing a second season that will adapt the events of The Last of Us Part 2.
