Amid the swirling questions about the future of the iconic *The Last of Us* video game series, fans are eagerly speculating where the narrative might lead following the conclusion of the HBO series' Season 2 and 3, which will cover the events of the second video game. Earlier this month, series creator Neil Druckmann injected a dose of uncertainty into the prospect of *The Last of Us 3*, stating, "I guess the only thing I would say is don’t bet on there being more of ‘Last of Us.’ This could be it."

Yet, the burning question remains: if there's no *The Last of Us 3*, will Naughty Dog and Druckmann continue the TV show beyond the established games? This query was directly posed to Druckmann by IGN on the red carpet ahead of the *The Last of Us* Season 2 premiere. He responded by affirming that he has an ending for the *The Last of Us* story in mind, but due to the uncertainty surrounding the development of *The Last of Us 3*, he's determined to leave nothing unfinished.

"I have to have an ending," Druckmann emphasized. "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 didn’t know if we’d ever get to do it again. I need it to be a definitive ending. *The 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."

Another looming concern is whether Druckmann will have the time to create *The Last of Us 3*, even if it were approved for production. His current commitments include overseeing the *The Last of Us* TV show, which will conclude the story of *The Last of Us 2* over Seasons 2 and 3, and working on the newly 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*."

The Last of Us Season 2 Character Posters

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In February 2024, Druckmann tantalized fans with a "concept" for a potential The Last of Us 3 during the end of Grounded 2: Making The Last of Us Part 2. He noted that there might be "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 reflected. "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."