It’s clear many were excited when game developer Naughty Dog announced a release date for The Last of Us Part II last month, together with new gameplay videos and fresh new information about the game.
Naughty Dog’s eagerly anticipated sequel was slated to hit shelves in late February next year, but sadly we now know this is not the case, as Naughty Dog recently announced to the dismay of many that the game has been delayed, and is now shipping in May 2020.
So it seems that we’ll have to wait even longer to play this sequel to what was arguably 2013’s best game, an almost seven-year wait which means expectations are now sky-high for the US developer’s upcoming game.
“it was during the last few weeks, as we were closing out sections of the game, that we realized we simply didn’t have enough time to bring the entire game up to a level of polish we would call Naughty Dog quality”, said game director Neil Druckmann in a letter to fans on the PlayStation blog (via GameSpot).
“At this point we were faced with two options: compromise parts of the game or get more time. We went with the latter, and this new release date allows us to finish everything to our level of satisfaction while also reducing stress on the team”, added The Last of Us Part II’s director.
And it’s clear that Naughty Dog has always been a quality-conscious developer: after all, some of its games like Uncharted 4 and the original Last of Us are amongst the best of their genres, although it’s still odd for a developer to announce a release date for a game and then change its mind only a month later.
But still, judging by what we’ve seen so far of the game it’s clear that this survival horror follow-up to the 2013 classic original sure has the potential to be something special. This will be a darker, edgier game than the original as its creators have already pointed out, a game which sees the return of Joel and Ellie (with the latter being the protagonist this time), even though fans hoping to get hold of the game in late February will now have to wait until May to play the game.
Here’s hoping, though, that The Last of Us Part II lives up to the hype, and that it indeed turns out to be something special when it ships in spring next year.
Note: The Last of Us Part II will be released on May 29, 2020. Available on PS4.