Report: The Last of Us 2 Is Under Production For 2015 Release

[Steven Bogos]

Report: The Last of Us 2 Is Under Production For 2015 Release

Well-known Brazilian website "Omelete" claims that a The Last of Us sequel will hit PS4 in 2015.

The Last of Us, Naughty Dog's latest effort and one of the undisputed best games of 2013, may have already have a sequel in the works, according to Well-known Brazillian website "Omelete". The website claims that "The Last of Us 2" is already in production, and will be released in 2015 for the PlayStation 4.

You may recall that The Last of Us' development overlapped with Uncharted 3, causing the developer to split into two different teams. If a sequel is planned for 2015, it would be most likely that the other Naughty Dog team is working on it, and has been at least for a few months.

Omelete is quite a reputable website in Brazil and really has no reason to lie, but its source is cited as an "anonymous insider," and we all know how they can turn out. I would take this one with a grain of salt for now, especially considering Uncharted 4 is reportedly also in the works for a PS4 release next year.

Left Behind, the first piece of story DLC will release for The Last of Us next month, and will help expand the game's backstory.

A full-fledged sequel starring Joel and Ellie seems a bit odd considering the first game's rather definitive end, but another story focusing on different characters in the same universe would certainly fit the bill.

We have contacted to Sony, which told us in a canned PR statement:

"Thanks for reaching out. However, we do not comment on rumor or speculation."

Source: NeoGAF [http://omelete.uol.com.br/last-us/games/last-us-2-esta-em-producao/#.UumNVhDTldh]

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[Shocksplicer]

If it's anything like the Uncharted sequels it'll be the exact same plot in a different, slightly prettier location and with enemies from a different European nation.

 

[Jack Nief]

I hope to God it focuses on a different crowd of people. I can't stand the idea of cheapening an experience like this with a sequel.

 

[Bat Vader]

The ending to TLOU was pretty good I thought. I don't really think it needs a sequel and will just cheapen the ending to the first one.

 

[Casual Shinji]

If they are making a sequel they're not going to ditch Joel and Ellie, they're too popular. They'll likely have it take place farther into the future, maybe even 20 years to correlate with the first game, and have you take control of a 34- year old Ellie as she guides a 67-ish-year old Joel across the wasteland after Tommy's settled gets destroyed or something. Or maybe Joel croaks and they'll give you another kid to look after.

At least, that's the only way I can see a sequel with the same characters working.

I knew it was coming, and I wish it wasn't, so please don't fuck this up, Naughty Dog.

 

[Evonisia]

Still have yet to play TLoU though the reaction to it's ending seems to be "full closure", "it's great", "brilliant closing point" and so on, so this sucks I guess. Have Naughty Dog been known to make many changes between sequels? I mean storywise. The Crash Bandicoot and Uncharted series may as well be the same games repeated 3 times in terms of story.

 

[Dragonlayer]

If true, this is fantastic news, PROVIDING the story focuses on some other poor losers in the hellish post-apocalyptic world. The first game ended it's story perfectly in my opinion and while I can see there is a certain amount of freedom to write about Ellie dealing with Joel's lies, I don't think resolving that one way or the other will be an improvement over ambiguity.

 

[AzrealMaximillion]

If it's anything like the Uncharted sequels it'll be the exact same plot in a different, slightly prettier location and with enemies from a different European nation.

Agreed. I've seen The Road with Viggo Mortensen. Good movie. Played TLOU. Overrated in my opinion.

Kinda gettin sick of games with plots that parallel movie get critical acclaim for "amazing stories." Especially when they aren't mechanically up to snuff.

 

[Hawkeye21]

Who the hell had a single shred of doubt about sequel? Naughty Dog is going to milk the shit out of its new cash cow, thats how it works in the 21st century.

 

[LaochEire]

Report: The Last of Us 2 Is Under Production For 2015 Release



You may recall that The Last of Us was made by a secondary Naughty Dog team, as its development overlapped with Uncharted 3. If a sequel is planned for 2015, it would be most likely that the main Naughty Dog team is working on it, and has been at least for a few months.

Edit: Nevermind. Splitting hairs.

 

[Nokturos]

Good work Naughty Dog, suck all the cash you can out of this inferior franchise so you can use it to make more Jak & Daxter games. That's what you're doing, right? It better be.

 

[balladbird]

Who the hell had a single shred of doubt about sequel? Naughty Dog is going to milk the shit out of its new cash cow, thats how it works in the 21st century.

^-- these be my sentiments.

In this industry, you seldom get to make an artistic statement. If you create a game that is both a critical and financial success, you're going to have thousands of investors beating down your door to make another one, and they won't be interested in "but it's already a compact story" as an excuse for why you shouldn't.

 

[CloudAtlas]

I've seen The Road with Viggo Mortensen. Good movie. Played TLOU. Overrated in my opinion.

Kinda gettin sick of games with plots that parallel movie get critical acclaim for "amazing stories." Especially when they aren't mechanically up to snuff.

By that logic, why would a movie based on a novel (McCarthy's The Road) be more deserving of praise for the originality of its story than a game that might be inspired by the same novel?

 

[BrotherRool]

I don't want this, if so no other reason than 'The Last of Us 2' is an even sillier name than Final Fantasy X

 

[sXeth]

A sequel starring the same characters is basically crapping all over any possible artistic credit they've built up. The universe is really an overly generic one, equal to any of the billions of apocalypse settings (Complete with everyone but the main characters inexplicably becoming complete sociopaths).

I don't really see this working out well for them. The main strength of the game was the actor's performance, and if they reuse the characters, they're already wobbling out on a weak base.

 

[TheRightToArmBears]

I've seen The Road with Viggo Mortensen. Good movie. Played TLOU. Overrated in my opinion.

Kinda gettin sick of games with plots that parallel movie get critical acclaim for "amazing stories." Especially when they aren't mechanically up to snuff.

By that logic, why would a movie based on a novel (McCarthy's The Road) be more deserving of praise for the originality of its story than a game that might be inspired by the same novel?

Pretty much exactly what I thought when I read that too.

It's also missing the point. It's more about character development and all that jazz than basic things like premise and plot points, otherwise we would have made a handful of books and not bothered with any more. Besides, TLOU is kinda flattered in comparison to other games, it stands out more than The Road which was pretty dull (the movie, it worked much better as a book).

I'm pretty sure most people saw this coming when TLOU was a success. I figure it could work out well if they focused on different characters and got some other decent actors to play them, but I would be very surprised if they didn't keep Joel and Ellie.

 

[Mik Sunrider]

First, shocked I am ... no really. I am just completely so shocked you could knock me over with battering ram. However, I am betting it will not have Ellie and Joel in it. Remember what the marking burp is on the Last of Us: Left Behind; they are very clear it is the last story of Ellie and Joel. http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/131633-Left-Behind-is-Final-Story-DLC-for-The-Last-of-Us. A few people were taken aback about the wording since this was the first and only DLC for TLOU. A TLOU part 2 without any Ellie or Joel in it does make that marking burp make more sense.

I just hope 2015 is enough time to get it done, I wouldn't mind a 2016 release.

 

[EHKOS]

Yeah, no. Naughty Dog has more integrity as a studio and their employees wouldn't do this. Besides, the game doesn't need a sequel.

 

[Drummodino]

Please let it not be so... I absolutely adored The Last of Us, but it ended perfectly. Please, please, please let it remain so Naughty Dog and Sony.

I guess I wouldn't be too disappointed if it focused on completely new characters, but... even the thought of that has me a little uneasy.

 

[C14N]

I really hope it's not true. I loved TLOU but part of the reason I liked it so much was that it was a completely original IP and I thought that having such good sales on a new franchise would encourage ND to try something brand new again. The studio is now so well known and respected, it's at the point where anything they make will get loads of attention.

In any case, I can't see how it would be particularly good. The thing that made the game good was the characters and new gameplay. I'm assuming a sequel would follow some new characters but then we're losing the essence of what was good about the first one. We don't need to see more characters in this world either, zombie/infection apocalypse worlds are pretty much out of good will at this point and the setting was even a big point of criticism for the game.

I would really like it for the team that made The Last of Us to be one dedicated to taking some risks, not just be a second sequel machine.