The Last of Us Part III officially on the way, says director Neil Druckmann

There’s one final chapter left in the story of Ellie, Joel, Abby, and everyone else in the mushroom zombie apocalypse: Naughty Dog president Neil Druckmann confirmed today that The Last of Us Part III is coming.

At the very end of Grounded II: Making The Last of Us Part II, he said he just recently came up with a concept for the game. And while Druckmann didn’t outright confirm full-fledged development is underway, Naughty Dog currently has no other projects announced at this time.

“I’ve been thinking about, ‘is there a concept there?'” Druckmann said of a potential sequel. “And for years, now, I haven’t been able to find that concept. But recently, that’s changed, and I don’t have a story, but I do have that concept that, to me, is as exciting as one, as exciting as two, as its own thing and yet has this through-line for all three. So, it does feel like there’s probably one more chapter to the story.”

The Last of Us Part II is about as controversial of a game as you can think of over the past few years. The game’s plot twists and turns, along with its inclusion of marginalized peoples, have left the game as a hot-button issue since it was released in 2020.

Druckmann, who was the creative director and co-writer of The Last of Us Part II after writing and co-directing the original, has also been directly involved with the series’ hit adaptation on HBO. The second season of the show is set to begin filming this month.

“If we never get to do [The Last of Us] again, this is a fine ending point,” Druckmann said. “The last bite of the apple, the story’s done. The great thing about working at Naughty Dog, is that we don’t have to. It’s always like, ‘we would love another Last of Us, but if you guys are feel you are passionate about something else, we’ll support this other thing.’ Very privileged position to be in, I never take that for granted.”

The Last of Us Part II Remastered was released just last month, featuring a rogue-like mode and remastered visuals, along with cut content.

With the development of Part III planned or already underway and an online component for Part II recently canceled, the sequel is still likely many years off.