A rumor is going around that Naughty Dog has already started development on The Last of Us Part III, but so far, nothing official has been confirmed. With Neil Druckmann in the spotlight thanks to the incoming release of The Last of Us series on HBO, the game director was asked about the possibility of an upcoming third game.
Talking to The Hollywood Reporter, Druckmann says he can’t outright say that TLOU Part III is development, but he does say, “I think there’s more story to tell.” While it doesn’t really give any specifics, at least we know that there is still a future for Ellie down the line.
If anything, The Last of Us Part II does close the book on Joel and Ellie’s relationship, but leaves the door open for Ellie’s future. While Ellie knows that she did what she could to avenge Joel, she’s now left with an empty life, without Dina and without her relationship to Tommy and the rest of Jackson.
We don’t know what a third game could be about, but I suspect that it would still have something to do with Ellie’s immunity to the cordyceps virus. Though Joel had taken the choice from Ellie in the first game, maybe game three will have Ellie facing the choice herself, and we could be looking at the world eventually getting healed from the plague of the mushroom zombies.
Then again, that sounds like the predictable ending; I’m open for Druckmann and his team to drum up something that blows everyone’s expectations out of the water.
For now, you can check out The Last of Us games now available for PlayStation 4|5. The Last of Us series premieres on HBO Max on Jan. 16.
