One of the most eagerly anticipated PlayStation 4 exclusives is undoubtedly The Last of Us Part II. This is a sequel to the award-winning Last of Us game from 2013, one of the better games which came out for the Sony’s PS3 console, so it makes sense that gamers worldwide are eager to get their hands on what could be the best game of whatever year it launches in.
But could that year be 2019? A recent tweet by Neil Druckmann (game director at Naughty Dog, the developer behind the game) suggests this may very well be the case… This is because in this tweet (via Metro.co.uk) Druckmann states that the team at Naughty Dog has finished shooting the final scene of the game, with Druckmann’s tweet ending cryptically with the word “so…”.
This might imply that Naughty Dog is close to wrapping up development on this sequel to The Last of Us, although as Metro points out, games are almost never created in chronological order these days, meaning that although the team at Naughty Dog might have reached an important development milestone, the game might not yet be close to finished.
There’s still a possibility, though, that indeed most of the work on The Last of Us Part II is complete and even that the game might be launching in 2019, as recent rumours have suggested. Also, earlier this year Gustavo Santaolalla (the man behind the game’s music) said that this sequel to the 2013 hit would be coming “very soon”, also suggesting a 2019 release date.
Sadly, though, those hoping to find out more about the game at this year’s E3 show will be disappointed by the fact that Sony will be skipping the big event in California this month, in a year that also seems to be lacking in PS4 exclusives. Actually, games like Death Stranding (and also Ghost of Tsushima, an exciting-looking action game set in feudal Japan) don’t seem to be headed to be the PS4 this year, meaning that Sony might want to surprise its fans with a Last of Us Part II release later in 2019.
But with Sony’s first party studios now focused on PS5 games, and the Japanese company recently revealing the first details about its next-gen console earlier this week, it may very well be that The Last of Us Part II is delayed until 2020 to coincide with the probable launch of the PS5.
It remains to be seen, then, whether The Last of Us Part II ends up hitting shelves in 2019, something we won’t know for sure until Naughty Dog reveals a launch date, hopefully sooner rather than later.