With the second season of HBO’s “The Last of Us” adaptation premiering next month, the talk of that proposed third entry in the video game series has popped up again. However, fans shouldn’t get their hopes up that Naughty Dog is returning to the series anytime soon, if at all.
In an interview with Variety about the upcoming second season of the HBO series, series co-creator Neil Druckmann got the obligatory question about Part III, and if it would ever be developed. While Druckmann last year mentioned that he has a “concept” for a third entry in the series, he has now put that idea of an actual game to rest.
“I was waiting for this question [about a third game],” said Druckman, who mentioned before that his concept for the proposed game would be “as exciting as I, as exciting as II, is its own thing, yet has this through-line for all three.” However, now Druckmann is saying that the two entries will be the only ones. “I guess the only thing I would say is don’t bet on there being more of ‘Last of Us.’ This could be it.”
Admittedly, when you go back to the Grounded II: Making The Last of Us Part II documentary, Druckmann did state that a third game was “always a small story,” and never a fully-developed title. He did hold out hope that it would eventually be picked up and developed.
“At the time, we had higher priorities at Naughty Dog, to fix our pipeline, to fix work-life balance issues. Just based on where we were, I didn’t wanna prioritise this story, so that story was shelved. I still believe one day it will see the light of day.”
However, at the same time, if this third entry never came to pass, the two games have done the story justice. “If we never get to do it again, this is a fine ending point. The last bite of the apple, the story’s done.”
“The Last of Us” Season 2 premieres on Max on April 13, 2025.