Naughty Dog Says Possible Last of Us Sequel “A Big Assumption”

Gamers hoping for a sequel to The Last of Us were left hanging following a recent Game Informer interview with Naughty Dog’s Creative Director Neil Druckmann and Game Director Bruce Straley.

When asked if the pair could see a sequel to The Last of Us being made without them, Druckmann responded that the idea that there would be a sequel was “a big assumption.” 

“That’s all a big if,” said Straley.

“We’re 110 percent in Uncharted 4 territory now. Blinders on, make this awesome.”

Of note however was that neither of them directly ruled out the idea of a sequel.

Is a Sequel Possible?

Sequel rumors have been fueled by a mention of The Last of Us 2 on Naughty Dog’s former lead character artist Michael Knowland’s LinkedIn profile and a Redditt AMA that stated that there was a “50/50” chance of a sequel.

Naughty Dog even revealed in another interview that there are two teams at work in the company; while the first is developing Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End the second is focusing on a second undisclosed project. 

What the second project actually is remains a mystery with Druckmann previously stating that there are a number possibilities in the works:

“We have started brainstorming some stuff. To be honest, some of them are sequel ideas, and some of them are brand new IP – we’ve spent the last few weeks brainstorming new IP. So we have to get some good steps and see… It’s kind of like how we approached Left Behind.

Can we tell people a story that’s really worth telling, and that’s not repeating itself? And if we can’t, where can we get inspired – what is something that’s really going to challenge us, and push storytelling in this medium forward?”

Some gamers are actually against the idea of a sequel and prefer that The Last of Us stay a one-off hit, a feeling which Straley and Druckmann said they understood. 

“We totally get it because, you know, we have those same feelings as well,” said Druckmann.   

“We have brainstormed sequel ideas for The Last of Us and we’ve brainstormed ideas for new games but all that is put on ice right now while we work on Uncharted 4.”