The Last of Us 3: Release Date, Plot, and Everything We Know

After five years of silence, Neil Druckmann has finally spoken up. Let’s take a look at what his words mean and when we’ll see the sequel.

HBO’s adaptation turned out to be quite controversial—and that’s exactly what made many people fall in love with the original games all over again. The storylines of the first and second games are experienced completely differently when you’re actually playing them. It’s no surprise that the question “Will there be a third game?” has been lingering for several years now. More than five years have passed since the sequel’s release, and during that time, dozens of insider reports and several contradictory statements from Drakman himself have surfaced. Let’s try to sort it all out step by step.

What Neil Druckmann Says

Drakman has long made his position clear: he won’t take on The Last of Us 3 until he finds a worthy concept. According to him, the new game must have a storyline that’s at least as good as the previous installments and convincingly answer the question: what has brought the protagonist back on the road? If no such idea emerges, the ending of the second installment will remain the final chapter in the series’ history.

However, the situation changed early last year. In a documentary about the making of The Last of Us Part II, Drakman made an important admission:

“I wrote a story about the events following the second part. Tomi plays the lead role. I hope we’ll get to it someday. For many years, I couldn’t find a concept—but recently everything changed. I don’t have a plot, but I have a concept that ties all three parts together. It seems to me there might be another chapter in this story.”

This isn’t an announcement or a guarantee that the game will be released. But for the first time in years, there’s real hope.

What is known about the plot

Drakman shared only the general outline. Here is what is known so far:

The main character is Tomi. The concept of the sequel revolves around her.
Ellie is also important. In terms of her significance to the plot, she is no less important than in the sequel.
The events take place after the second part.
The concept ties the entire trilogy together—the story is meant to serve as a cohesive conclusion to the series.

A few years ago, an insider report surfaced online claiming that the plot of TLOU 3 would revolve around a group of five survivors. Many people heard this information, but there was never any official confirmation.

Why isn’t the game in development yet?

After the release of the second installment, Naughty Dog worked on two major projects: a multiplayer game set in The Last of Us universe and a new IP—Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet. The multiplayer game was ultimately canceled, and Intergalactic is set to be released in the next couple of years.

Drakman is deliberately taking his time with the announcement of the third installment right now: he doesn’t want Intergalactic to get lost in the shuffle. If TLOU 3 were announced today, all the players’ attention would instantly shift to it, and the studio has poured a tremendous amount of effort and time into the new project.

According to insiders, The Last of Us 3 is already in development—but in the background. Most likely, these are just early story outlines, nothing more.

When can we expect the release?

To be honest, not anytime soon. Here’s why:

Naughty Dog hasn’t finished working on Intergalactic yet.
After its release, the studio will only begin full-scale development of TLOU 3.
A project of this scale takes at least 5 years to create.

Insiders agree: the third installment will be released roughly halfway through the PlayStation 6’s lifecycle. In other words, we’ll have to wait a long time for the next generation of consoles.

Will this be the last part?

Apparently, yes, and that’s the right call. Drakman himself has said many times that he won’t release a new installment without a solid storyline. That’s exactly why, after nearly ten years, we still haven’t seen a fifth Uncharted—the bar is set so high that there’s simply no point in tackling a sequel without a solid concept.

Naughty Dog is a studio that doesn’t turn its franchises into an assembly line. If The Last of Us 3 is released, it should be a worthy conclusion to the story, not just another cash-grab.

Conclusion

Here’s the situation with The Last of Us 3: there’s a concept, but no full-scale development, and it’s too early to expect an announcement. Drakman is acting exactly the same way he did before the announcement of the second game—speaking evasively, making no promises, but not closing the door entirely either. In 2016, this culminated in the sequel’s announcement. Perhaps history will repeat itself.

The most important thing right now is that Drakman doesn’t burn out. In his own words, he’s already starting to get tired of large-scale, multi-year projects. If the studio maintains a healthy atmosphere within the team, and players give Intergalactic a warm reception, The Last of Us 3 has every chance of seeing the light of day someday.

Would you like a third installment? Or is the sequel’s ending a strong enough conclusion? Let us know in the comments.