While the controversy still sticks to the side of Naughty Dog’s The Last of Us Part II for countless players, the reception for the 2020-released title says otherwise. It was reported that the game since January has overtaken the title for receiving the most Game of the Year awards. The previous record holder was CD Projekt Red’s The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt which released back in 2015.
However, despite the polarization within the video game industry on the performance of the game in post-launch, it is suspected that a new project is underway. Given from one implication reported by Twisted Voxel, it is suggested that game studio Naughty Dog is preparing to work on its next venture already as gathered by new appointed leadership at the developer.
And while plans at Naughty Dog is still under the table for the time being in terms of official projects, director for The Last of Us Part II does reveal some intriguing information that might pique your interest. Speaking to IGN, Neil Druckmann tells that the team already got a plot for the next The Last of Us game, but development is still dormant.
I don’t know how much I want to reveal… [co-writer Halley Gross] and I did write an outline for a story, that we’re not making – but I hope one day can see the light of day – that explores a little bit what happens after this game. We’ll see.
These games take so much to make. [Part 2], I’ve been thinking about it for seven years, between when the last game came out and when this came out […] You want to make sure you’re jazzed by the idea that you have, [that] it feels like it’s challenging.
We’ve now had two games that I feel speak to something universal as well as telling a very personal story for these characters. With one game, there’s no pattern of what a franchise is. With two games, now there’s starting to be a pattern – now I feel like there are some structural and thematic themes you’d have to stick to if you’re making a third game.
Although there is now confirmation that a third is being conceived as of writing, the game has yet to hit the drawing boards officially. Druckmann does express that he hopes the game eventually can “one day see the light of day.” It is unsure if development has yet to go live due to other projects on Naughty Dog’s plate. Bloomberg reported this month that the team inherited a remake for 2013’s The Last of Us, but the game has yet to be revealed.
Druckmann proceeds telling, “We take a long time to explore different ideas, whether it’s going to be Last of Us III, whether it’s something new, whether there’s some old franchise we want to go back to. I like to fully explore all of those, then look at, like: okay, we have all of these ideas in front of us. As a studio, what do we want to commit to? Because it’s a huge commitment – monetary, time, passion, talent, so you think about all the opportunity costs that come with that.”
In one report transcribed by Video Game Chronicles, Naughty Dog is direly wanting to develop a new Jak & Daxter game. However, studio cofounder Evan Wells explains that the team is currently not working in the game despite the overall desire to. You can read the full report by heading here.
What do you hope to see from the next The Last of Us game?
Source: IGN
