Two new The Last Of Us games announced as Naughty Dog ‘expand the canon’

The Last Of Us is not done yet (Sony Interactive Entertainment) Naughty Dog’s Neil Druckmann has announced two more Last Of Us projects, while explaining when fans can expect an update on Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet. Even with the Last Of Us TV show set to wrap up with its third season, earlier this month Naughty Dog head Neil Druckmann teased that the studio still has plans for more The Last Of Us. He wasn’t specific though, only saying that he’d share info when ‘the time is right.’ And while he’s still being awfully cagey, Druckmann has now offered more insight via a blog post on the studio’s website. There, he formally commits to two new Last Of Us projects, stating that these will ‘expand the canon of The Last Of Us beyond Part 1 and Part 2.’ So, they’re thankfully not another pair of remasters and will be entirely new. Although Druckmann has previously talked about how he has a concept for a Last Of Us Part 3, his phrasing here suggests neither of these projects are a direct sequel. Frustratingly, the wording is vague enough that one of the projects could be Part 3 but the way he talks about the projects is reminiscent of how Naughty Dog described the cancelled The Last Of Us Online game, which was not focused on Ellie or any of the established characters. Expert, exclusive gaming analysis Sign up to the GameCentral newsletter for a unique take on the week in gaming, alongside the latest reviews and more. Delivered to your inbox every Saturday morning. The TV show has already added new characters and subplots, that weren’t featured in either game, and during a making of documentary from 2024, Druckmann mentioned he had penned out an outline for a spin-off focused on Joel’s brother Tommy. ‘The world of The Last Of Us means a great deal to us, and we wouldn’t return to it unless we had something meaningful to say. We believe these stories are worth telling,’ says Druckmann… although the fact that The Last Of Us is a financially lucrative franchise for Sony surely helps too. Both projects are pointedly described as being in the early stages, which means neither will see the light of day for many years, and probably means you should expect them to be PlayStation 6 games. They’ll certainly not come out until after Naughty Dog’s next game, Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet, which still lacks a release date nearly two years after its announcement at The Game Awards 2024. Druckmann acknowledges this in the blog post, while also ruling out any updates for the rest of the year. So, that means no new trailer at The Game Awards in December. However, he does promise to ‘fully reveal’ the game (again) at some point in 2027 with a ‘proper look,’ which should mean a gameplay demonstration and a more detailed explanation for its story. Whether this means the game will be ready to launch that year is unknown, but it does seem a possibility. Druckmann did share a new piece of concept art, depicting an alien planet, but currently all that’s known about Intergalactic is that it’s a sci-fi action game with an 80s theme, where you play as a bounty hunter portrayed by You actress Tati Gabrielle. While this is her first video game role, Gabrielle has starred in a few game adaptations. Most recently, she was Jade in the Mortal Kombat 2 movie, but she was also in the Uncharted movie and the Last Of Us show. In Intergalactic, she’ll star alongside Troy Baker (who played Joel in The Last Of Us games), who hyped up Gabrielle and Intergalactic during a recent appearance at Ottawa Comiccon in Ontario, Canada, which has been shared on YouTube. There, Baker described Gabrielle’s character, Jordan, as ‘the spiritual successor’ of Ellie from The Last Of Us and told fans ‘You guys are going to have your minds blown. ‘There is so much about Jordan and that game of Intergalactic that feels like… man, I feel all of it. I feel Uncharted, I feel The Last Of Us, I feel something new. They are testing the bounds of what that studio is capable of. Everything that I’ve seen, they are delivering, and it’s going to be incredible.’ Druckmann says the Intergalactic team needs to ‘cook for just a little bit longer’ (Sony) Email gamecentral@metro.co.uk, leave a comment below, follow us on Twitter. To submit Inbox letters and Reader’s Features more easily, without the need to send an email, just use our Submit Stuff page here. For more stories like this, check our Gaming page. GameCentral Sign up for exclusive analysis, latest releases, and bonus community content.