Neil Druckmann on Naughty Dog’s YouTube channel has unexpectedly stated that The Last of Us Part 3 could very well be in development. He says he’s only referring to the concept, but noted that there’s probably another chapter to the story.

“In the first game, there was this pure concept of the unconditional love that parents have for their child. Secondly, once we got to this idea of striving for justice at all costs, justice for those you love, we felt like there was a pure concept here and there was a through-line from the first game, about love. If we never get to do it again, it’s a great end point. Last bite of the apple, story’s over.”

“I don’t have a story, but I have this concept that to me is as fascinating as the first one, as fascinating as the second one, is a separate thing, and yet has this through-line for all three. So it feels like there’s probably another chapter to this story.”

In a previous interview, Druckmann mentioned an already written story for Joel’s brother, Tommy, set after the events of The Last of Us Part 2:

“The headlines across the industry were like ‘Naughty Dog unveiled The Last of Us Part 3,’ and that’s really wrong. It was always a small story, it was never a full title. At the time, Naughty Dog had big priorities – fixing our process, fixing our work-life balance issues. Based on where we were, I didn’t do that. I want to prioritize the story, which is why this story got shelved. And I still believe it will see the light of day one day. I don’t know if it’s going to be a game or a show, it hasn’t been determined yet, but I’m hopeful that someday we will.”

The video mentioned, Grounded II: Making The Last of Us Part II, is a documentary detailing the making of the second game.