Naughty Dog’s Next Project Isn’t The Last Of Us 3

Now that the first season of HBO’s The Last Of Us adaptation has wrapped up, everyone is wondering whether Naughty Dog will capitalize on the franchise’s mainstream success by releasing another game. In an interview with Kinda Funny, showrunner and The Last Of Us co-creator Neil Druckmann acknowledged the hype for a potential Last Of Us Part 3, but said that Naughty Dog has already picked its next game.

“At the end of every project we purposefully explore several different projects,” Druckmann said about Naughty Dog’s creative process, after explaining how the successful studio is lucky to be able to pick projects based on passion. “Some of them might be a sequel, and then a bunch of new ideas. And then we feel like, ‘where do our passions lie?'”

“I know the fans really want The Last Of Us Part III, I hear about it all the time,” he continued. “All I can say is that we’re already into our next project, the decision has already been made. I can’t say what it is, but that is the process we went through.”

Druckmann goes on to clarify that the as-yet unnamed Last Of Us multiplayer game is “our next big title,” so presumably the project he couldn’t describe is the major title that will come after this release.

In the past, Druckmann has been similarly reluctant to commit to The Last Of Us ever getting a third instalment. In 2021, he said that he has written an outline for a potential Part 3 with co-writer Halley Gross, but since then has reiterated that it will only get made if Naughty Dog feels like it’s a compelling story and project to work on.