If There Is No The Last of Us 3, Would Naughty Dog’s Neil Druckmann Keep the TV Show Going Past the Games?

Amid question marks about the future of The Last of Us video game series, fans are wondering where the story might go next after the HBO series Season 2 and 3 cover off the second video game. Earlier this month, series creator Neil Druckmann cast doubt on the prospect of The Last of Us 3, saying: “I guess the only thing I would say is don’t bet on there being more of ‘Last of Us.’ This could be it.”

But if there’s no The Last of Us 3, would Naughty Dog and Druckmann keep the TV show going past the games?

That’s the question IGN put to Druckmann himself in a recent interview, and he replies to say that while he has an ending of The Last of Us story in mind, because he’s not sure if he’ll get the chance to make The Last of Us 3, he’s leaving nothing on the line.

“I have to have an ending,” Druckmann said. “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.”

One question hanging over Druckmann is if he will even have the time to make The Last of Us 3, were it to be green lit for production. That’s because he has his hands full with The Last of Us TV show, which is set to round-out the events of The Last of Us 2 video game with Season 2 and Season 3, and the recently announced PlayStation game Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet.

“As far as everything else, and you’re asking me about future games, my time so much is, we have to finish this season,” Druckmann continued. “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.”

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, noting 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 said. “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.”

Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.