The Last of Us Part 3 is high on the wishlist of the gaming community after the controversial sequel broke new ground and ended with some loose ends. Game development can take a toll, and most developers pour everything they have into a single project to make the best game possible. While not everyone appreciated how the sequel ended and where the writers took certain characters, the possibility of a third game is at an all-time high, but fans should prepare themselves for a wait.
The Last of Us Part 3 Could Take a While and for Good Reason
During a panel at the DICE Summit, directors Cory Barlog and Neil Druckmann sat down and discussed their process of crafting stories and character arcs across multiple projects. Druckmann revealed he doesn’t think about long-term plans and often injects every cool idea into his current project. Some fans believed The Last of Us shouldn’t have a sequel, to begin with; however, Druckmann and his colleagues felt differently and crafted another original story with their new ideas:
That’s a very easy question for me to answer, because I never think about multiple games, because I’m the game in front of us is so all consuming
Naughty Dog is renowned for the Uncharted franchise, which spanned multiple sequels and spinoff titles. These games follow a similar formula of great action set pieces, and the developers may have been saving some of these for future sequels as the technology improved and strategically placed them during major story missions.
The Last of Us series can’t benefit from this, especially since these games are much more grounded in comparison, and mature, and some ideas may not pan out the way the developers intended:
I think you’re jinxing yourself if you’re starting to think about the sequel when you’re working on the first game. So when I was making The Last of Us 2, yeah, sure. Every once in a while an idea pops in your head of where it might go if we get the chance to do another one. But I just approach it as, ‘what if I never get to do another one?’…I’m not saving some idea for the future. If there’s a cool idea, I’m doing my best to get it into here.
Not everyone was a fan of Joel and Ellie’s developments in the sequel, and this may have been an eye-opener for Druckmann about his creative choices for The Last of Us Part 3. Perhaps he and his writing team are weighing their options and evaluating which path to head toward for the inevitable sequel.
Patience is a Virtue
Druckmann has his hands full working on Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet and his recent comments from his panel with Barlog suggest that he is not overextending himself to work on multiple projects. Perhaps his time on this new IP will inspire him to have better and grander ideas for The Last of Us Part 3.
Ideas take time to perfect and Druckmann doesn’t take his opportunities for granted. Druckmann approached every project as if it were his last and poured everything he had into making the best game possible, and all fans had to do was wait and hope for the best.
For more Thumb Wars Gaming coverage, check out our explainer for a complete The Last of Us timeline, or everything you need to know about Days Gone Remastered.
Rouvin Josef Quirimit is a Content Writer, an avid gamer (on his PlayStation 5 and Nintendo Switch), and film enthusiast. He was fortunate to grow up with the Marvel Cinematic Universe and was enamored by the storytelling of a shared universe full of heart and spectacle. His love for movies led him to great single-player games and he intends to cover major franchises for years to come!
