Soon after the video game The Last of Us Part II was released back in 2020, series co-creator Neil Druckmann mentioned that a story had been written that would involve the Tommy Miller character – kicking off rumors that there was already an outline for a The Last of Us Part III video game. In the documentary Grounded II: Making The Last of Us Part II, Druckmann says that’s not accurate – but goes on to reveal that there is a concept for another game in the series.
In the documentary (which was released through YouTube), Druckmann addresses the rumors of the Tommy Miller story serving as the basis of The Last of Us Part III. He says, with thanks to our friends at Bloody Disgusting for the transcription, “The headlines across the industry were like, ‘Naughty Dog has outlined The Last of Us Part III.’ And that’s actually wrong. It was always a small story, it was never a full title. At the time, we had higher priorities at Naughty Dog, to fix our pipeline, to fix work-life balance issues. Just based on where we were, I didn’t wanna prioritize this story, so that story was shelved. I still believe one day it will see the light of day. I don’t know if it’ll be a game or a show… TBD.“
Druckmann went on to talk about the first two games being built on the theme on doing whatever’s necessary for those you love – and revealed that there is a concept in place for a third game that is “as exciting as I, as exciting as II, is its own thing, yet has this through-line for all three.”
The story of the The Last of Us video game is set years after a fungal plague wiped out much of humanity, transforming most into vicious zombie-like monsters, the story follows Joel, who’s living in a militarized quarantine zone. He has a close relationship with Tess, who operates in the black market of this community. Together, they’ve become known by the local criminal underworld for their ruthlessness. On a mission to reclaim their stolen guns, they run into the leader of the Fireflies, a resistance group, who tasks them with smuggling a young girl named Ellie out of the zone. This mission soon becomes much more than they were prepared for.
Are you a fan of the Last of Us video games and would you like to see a The Last of Us Part III get made? Let us know by leaving a comment below.