If you were hoping for a quick follow-up to the 2013 masterpiece from Naughty Dog, The Last of Us, keep hoping. There are no plans right now for a sequel to the critical and commercial first-party success from SCE and Naughty Dog, since the developers are focusing more on the highly anticipated PlayStation 4 adventure-shooter, Uncharted 4.
GameSpot spotted an interview from Game Informer where they managed to get in a word with developers Bruce Straley and Neil Druckmann from Naughty Dog, asking about their current design plans.
When asked about The Last of Us 2, a game that has some feeling like it should happen and others feeling like it should not happen. This is mostly given that the story wrapped itself up quite nicely in the first game and the extra DLC helped flesh out an already engrossing story. According to Druckmann...
“We're 110 percent in Uncharted 4 territory now. Blinders on, make this awesome." … “We totally get it, because we have those same feelings [about The Last of Us] as well," … "We have brainstormed sequel ideas for The Last of Us, and we've brainstormed ideas for new games, but all of that is put on ice right now while we work on Uncharted 4."
It's such a different and shocking thing to know that instead of pursuing a sequel to quickly cash in on the success of the first game, Druckmann and crew are taking it easy and letting the hype foster and build. It's the opposite sort of thing from a company like EA or Activision, who would see the 6 million copies sold – following an initial 3.4 million out of the gate – for the first game and instantly greenlight a second game for production; legacy and quality be damned.
A lot of fans would probably prefer if Naughty Dog took their time if they do plan on making a sequel to The Last of Us. There are a lot of high hopes in the upcoming Uncharted 4 and most people are expecting the same level of detail and story cohesion that the team brought to the table with their last couple of outings. Already, the game seems to be shaping up quite nicely, with the graphics wowing a lot of gamers and the mix of stealth-oriented gameplay and multiple routes enabling gamers to attack levels with a little less linearity and a bit more ingenuity.
Druckmann definitely has his plate full with the penning of the Last of Us film, as well as heading up the direction of Uncharted 4, which is scheduled to release later this year during the fall.
The GameSpot article notes that during the interview the duo of developers were asked if a sequel to The Last of Us could be made without them, and Straley cut in to say...
"I will answer for [Druckmann.] He would not be OK with that."
Just listening to the way Druckmann talks about the game and the creative process, I would easily believe that Straley is right.
Gamers can look forward to Uncharted 4 to launch exclusively on the PS4 this fall.
