This guide will be used to track all news and updates related to The Last of Us Part 3 release date, trailer, story, and more. It may contain spoilers for 2013’s The Last of Us and 2020’s The Last of Us Part II.
After a seven-year wait, The Last of Us Part II launched in June 2020. It was a landmark title for the PlayStation 4 and a truly special way to wind-down the eighth console generation (even if it did polarise gamers and critics alike).
No sooner had it hit the shelves were fans speculating about a possible sequel in the form of The Last of Us 3. Of course, The Last of Us Part II ended ambiguously and left the series open for another story. In addition, the game sold over four million copies and picked up countless Game of the Year awards among other accolades. With all that in mind, Naughty Dog would be remiss to pass up The Last of Us Part III. But what do we know so far about a third instalment in the series?
Is there a The Last of Us Part 3 trailer?
This question has a straightforward answer – no. There’s no trailer for The Last of Us 3, and there isn’t likely to be one for the foreseeable future. The first trailer for The Last of Us Part II arrived in 2016. That was approximately three years after the original game’s release. So if history is anything to go by, we may have to wait until at least 2023 until we get our first glimpse of The Last of Us Part III.
Has a The Last of Us Part 3 release date been confirmed?
The Last of Us 3 hasn’t been announced yet. And there’s no official information from Naughty Dog about the title, let alone a release date. That might be disappointing news for those eager to see what Ellie does next. But we’ll have to be patient as we could be waiting a while. And don’t forget – The Last of Us Part II was subject to numerous delays even after an initial launch date had been confirmed.
The closest we’ve gotten to any sort of announcement is some vague comments from Naughty Dog’s co-president Neil Druckmann. Around the time of The Last of Us Part II’s release, he said the following about The Last of Us 3 to GQ:
Neil Druckmann statement:
“As you start wrapping things up, creatively there are fewer and fewer responsibilities and my mind can’t help but think about the next thing. So, yeah, the next thing could be a Part III, the next thing could be some new IP.”
He shared a similar sentiment in an interview Indiewire:
“I’ll be a little vague and cagey as you can expect, but I think the test for whether or not to make a “Part III” would have to be a similar test to what we did with “Part II.” With the first game there were no expectations and it was like we could do anything. But now that we’ve established certain characters and themes and processes, it felt like to justify making a “Part II” we had to do something not that fans would just be comfortable with, but do something that would match the emotional core we found in the first game. And without that, there’d be no reason to do a “Part III.”
He continued:
“Finding it with the sequel was much harder than it was with the first game, and going forward it would be exponentially harder to justify going back to that world and finding a way to vary things up. There’s already so many things you’ve seen about the backstory, about how the outbreak happens, so we’d really have to figure out how to create a new experience that matches the emotional impact of these stories and I don’t know what that is. currently.”
So, it’s clear nothing is set in stone just yet. However, it seems The Last of Us Part III is a distinct possibility for the future. Although exactly when it will arrive is anyone’s guess, and it’s likely to be a long, long way off.
What will The Last of Us Part 3 story be?
Neil Duckmann has confirmed that a plot outline for The Last of Us Part 3 has been written. He spoke to the Script Apart podcast and said:
“I don’t know how much I want to reveal… [co-writer Halley Gross] and I did write an outline for a story, that we’re not making – but I hope one day can see the light of day – that explores a little bit what happens after this game. We’ll see.”
However, as you can see from his comments, The Last of Us Part 3 isn’t being made yet. But Druckmann hopes it will eventually see the light of day.
As for what the story will entail…
At the end of The Last of Us Part II, Ellie was alone after returning from her final confrontation with Abby in California. Dina had taken JJ and abandoned their farmhouse leaving Ellie to discover it empty. In the game’s final moments, she left the ranch but it was unclear exactly where she was heading. Two possible directions for a follow-up were immediately obvious. Either, Ellie searching for and reuniting Dina and JJ, and/or Ellie tracking down Abby again to finish the job.
These options seem a little obvious, though. And The Last of Us Part II certainly defied expectations with its dramatic narrative twists. So, will The Last of Us 3 mix things up like its predecessor did? Perhaps it’ll pick up with a completely new protagonist and be set in the distant future. Or maybe it’ll be a prequel focusing on Joel’s life in the early days of the pandemic. Right now, it’s probably too early to say – but we’ll make sure to update this article as soon as we know more!
Are you excited for The Last of Us 3? Let us know your thoughts about the next instalment in Naughty Dog’s award-winning series in the comment section below. And don’t forget to check out our other gaming articles!
