Fans are wondering if The Last of Us 3 will be made. The second game left a lot of questions in the air, and we’re ready to see if Ellie will be the main character again and if this will be the conclusion to her story. Unfortunately, not many rumors or leaks are swirling around this game yet, but we’ll discuss what we know so far below.
The Last of Us 3 release date rumors
Naughty Dog stated that The Last of Us 3 isn’t currently in development, so if it’s made, the release date will be years from now. However, we do know that the studio is interested in continuing the series. On the Script Apart podcast in April 2021, Neil Druckmann stated that the outline for the game had been completed and hinted that it would be a sequel to The Last of Us 2.
Development on The Last of Us 2 lasted from 2014 to 2020, and we’d imagine the next game will take at least as long. So, if Naughty Dog started work on it this year, it wouldn’t release until 2028 at the earliest. However, with how many projects the studio is developing right now, we wouldn’t count on work starting on The Last of Us 3 until 2023 or 2024. If it makes the game, it’ll likely appear at the end of the PS5’s lifespan.
Will Ellie be in The Last of Us 3?
With Joel’s death, Ellie became the main character of The Last of Us series. Though we played as Abby during most of the latter half of The Last of Us 2, her role centered around Ellie. I doubt we’ll see the two face off again. Instead, the story will likely center around a new conflict, perhaps one involving the reformed Fireflies.
However, we might see Abby and Lev play a major part again as allies. The Fireflies aren’t close to their previous strength, and Ellie might find herself siding with them in a desperate attempt to save humanity. Of course, nothing has pointed to this being the case, but it would make sense.
Ellie’s story isn’t over yet, but we’d bet the third game will serve as its conclusion. She’s come full circle, and her friends and adopted family are either dead or estranged. She’s going to have to face what she was able to avoid in the first game and make a conscious decision to potentially be humanity’s savior or not.
What will the story be?
As stated above, unless Naughty Dog takes a sharp turn away from the first two games, Ellie will likely be the central character. At the conclusion of the second game, she’s not doing so hot. Dina left her, and Tommy likely won’t be happy with her decision to spare Abby. As such, she may no longer consider Jackson to be her home. I can see her becoming a drifter, and the game might start anywhere in the former United States.
We also have the whole thing where the world is still infested with Infected. Ellie is still the only person that has survived exposure to Cordyceps, which is a dilemma she’s going to have to face again at some point. The Fireflies have reformed, and some of them will surely remember the miracle girl’s escape from the Salt Lake City hospital.
Have there been any leaks?
A huge leak spoiled The Last of Us 2 for many people, so we expect the third game will be under tight security. However, since it’s not officially in production yet, there haven’t been any leaks, and we’d be surprised if we see anything on the scale we did with the last game.
