Naughty Dog has decided to move away from The Last of Us and Uncharted for the time being in order to work on something completely different. But that doesn’t mean Ellie’s story is definitely over forever. There’s at least one more chapter to be told in the story of The Last of Us, and gamers are already preparing to say goodbye.
It’s currently full steam ahead on Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet, but a sequel to The Last of Us Part 2 hasn’t been ruled out by developer Neil Druckmann, who has confirmed multiple times he has an idea for a third – and final – game to close out the story once and for all.
Is The Last Of Us Part 3 Coming?
Not for a while yet
In a documentary all about The Last of Us Part 2 released last year, Druckmann touched on the possibility of a third game and what it would have to be. Unsurprisingly, it seems pretty clear that the third game will be the definite end for The Last of Us. At least until PlayStation decides to bring it back a few decades down the line, I guess.
“The first game had such a clean concept of the unconditional love a parent feels for their child,” Druckmann said. “The second one, once we landed on this idea of the pursuit of justice at any cost, justice for the ones you love, we felt like, ‘there’s a clean concept here and there’s a throughline from the first game, about love.’ If we never get to do it again, this is a fine ending point. Last bite of the apple, the story’s done.”
On a third game, he added:
“The great thing about working at Naughty Dog is that we don’t have to. It’s always like, ‘we would love another Last Of Us, but if you guys feel you’re passionate about something else, we’ll support this other thing.’ Very privileged position to be in, I never take that for granted. I’ve been just thinking about it, ‘is there a concept there?’ And for now years, I haven’t been able to find that concept. But recently, that’s changed, and I don’t have a story, but I do have that concept that to me is as exciting as 1, as exciting as 2, is its own thing, and yet has this throughline for all three. So it does feel like there’s probably one more chapter to this story.”
This isn’t official confirmation that The Last of Us Part 3 is coming in the next year or two, of course. We don’t even have a release date for Intergalactic yet, a game which, by all recent accounts, is currently not in the best position. What this does mean is that an ending is probably coming eventually, and fans everywhere seem to agree that’s as it should be.
The Last Of Us Part 3 Should Be The End
Fans are in agreement
“I’m glad he’s saying one more part instead of saying he’ll make as many as he can,” one fan commented. “Ellie and Joel’s story deserves an ending.” It’s worth noting Joel’s story did kind of already end in a particularly definitive way, but I take their point.
Another fan shared what they really don’t want to happen at the end, which is a completion of Ellie’s arc that sees her die to produce a cure like she was supposed to at the end of the first game. I agree, that’d be… not great.
“I doubt they will,” another fan responded. “Her arc has always been tied to finding meaning in her life beyond sacrificing it.”
The Last of Us Part 3 is still years and years away if it ever releases at all, but it’s nice to know fans are of one mind when it comes to closing the book on this epic, emotional story.
- Released
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June 19, 2020
- ESRB
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M for Mature: Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Nudity, Sexual Content, Strong Language, Use of Drugs
- Publisher(s)
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Sony
- Engine
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Proprietary
- Cross-Platform Play
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no
- Cross Save
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no
- Steam Deck Compatibility
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yes
