Naughty Dog Has Chosen Its Next Game, May Not Be The Last of Us Part 3

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Naughty Dog co-president Neil Druckmann has chosen his next game but hasn't revealed if it is an entirely new IP or The Last of Us Part 3. With the first season of HBO's The Last of Us series wrapped with generally positive reception, one would assume publisher Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE) would try capitalising on that craze with a multimedia franchise of sorts. But in an interview with Kinda Funny, Druckmann claimed that the studio's success over the years has, in fact, afforded it the luxury of being able to create what they're passionate about, and not worry about churning out a sequel. The director of The Last of Us Part II previously claimed that he is satisfied with bidding goodbye to that arc with a “very strong ending.”

“I know the fans really want The Last of Us Part 3, I hear about it all the time,” Druckmann said in the interview. “All I can say is that — look, we're already into our next project. So, the decision has already been made. I can't say what it is, but that's the process we went through. There was a lot of consideration of different things, and we picked the thing we were the most excited for.” Druckmann also explained Naughty Dog's creative process, where at the end of every project, the team explores multiple projects — both new IPs and sequels — to figure out where their passions align. AAA game development could easily take up to four years, and “if you pick the wrong projects and then you burn out from that idea,” it ends up being mediocre.

Druckmann reiterated that the upcoming The Last of Us multiplayer game will be Naughty Dog's next title — new details for which will be revealed later this year. Revealed at Geoff Keighley's Summer Game Fest, last year, the game will throw players