Amidst swirling questions about the future of the beloved *The Last of Us* video game series, fans are eager to learn where the narrative might head following the conclusion of the second game in HBO's Seasons 2 and 3. Earlier this month, Neil Druckmann, the series' creator, hinted at uncertainty about *The Last of Us 3*, stating, "I guess the only thing I would say is don’t bet on there being more of ‘Last of Us.’ This could be it."
This raises an intriguing question: If *The Last of Us 3* never materializes, would Naughty Dog and Druckmann continue the TV adaptation beyond the existing games? When IGN posed this question to Druckmann at the red carpet event for *The Last of Us* Season 2 premiere, he shared that while he has a clear vision for the story's ending, he remains uncertain about the opportunity to create *The Last of Us 3*. He emphasized the importance of crafting a definitive conclusion for each project, drawing parallels to his approach with *The Last of Us 1* and *Uncharted 4*.
"I have to have an ending," Druckmann asserted. "When I made *The Last of Us 1*, I didn’t know if there was going to be a sequel, so that had to be a definitive ending. When I worked on *Uncharted 4*, I don’t know if we’ll ever get to do it again. I need it to be a definitive ending. *Last of Us 2*, same way. All these things have to line up.
"I don’t know how long I’ll keep doing this or whether I’ll be given another opportunity. So I leave nothing on the line.
"Right now it’s like, we have an ending in mind. And that ending will be it. That ending will be it for this story."
A significant factor influencing Druckmann's ability to work on *The Last of Us 3* is his current commitment to the HBO series, which will cover the events of *The Last of Us 2* over Seasons 2 and 3, as well as his involvement in the newly announced PlayStation game *Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet*. Addressing future game projects, Druckmann noted, "As far as everything else, and you’re asking me about future games, my time so much is, we have to finish this season. We’re not quite done. We’re almost there. Knock on wood we get to do it again. Season 3, there’s a lot more story we have to cover, as you know with game two.
"And then my hands are pretty full with *Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet*."
The Last of Us Season 2 Character Posters
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In February 2024, Druckmann teased a "concept" for a potential The Last of Us 3 at the end of Grounded 2: Making The Last of Us Part 2, suggesting that there's "probably one more chapter to this story."
"The first game had such a clean concept of like, the unconditional love a parent feels for their child," he explained. "The second one, once we landed on this idea of the pursuit of justice at any cost, justice for the ones you love, we felt like, 'there's a clean concept here and there's a throughline from the first game, about love.' If we never get to do it again, this is a fine ending point. Last bite of the apple, the story's done."
"The great thing about working at Naughty Dog is that we don't have to," he added. "It's always like, 'we would love another *Last of Us*, but if you guys feel you're passionate about something else, we'll support this other thing.' Very privileged position to be in, I never take that for granted. I've been just thinking about it, 'is there a concept there?' And for now years, 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 1, as exciting as 2, is its own thing, and yet has this throughline for all three. So it does feel like there's probably one more chapter to this story."
