After the cancelation of The Last of Us' live-service multiplayer spinoff last December, Naughty Dog posted an update on its official site vaguely explaining the reason for the cancelation. Right at the end of this blog post, Naughty Dog confirmed that it has "more than one ambitious, brand new single player game" in development, but there's been no official confirmation of what those projects are.
It's been heavily rumored that one of these in-development projects is a brand new, possibly Sci-Fi-themed IP from Naughty Dog, but the other project(s) are complete mysteries. That being said, it feels like it's only a matter of time before Naughty Dog returns to its wildly successful Last of Us franchise, especially if the HBO live-action adaptation continues being such a major success. But if Naughty Dog has learned anything from past events, it might be a while before fans get to see a potential Last of Us Part 3, even if it is in development already.
The Last of Us Part 3 Might Want to Keep Its Cards Close to Its Chest
The Last of Us Part 2 Suffered Some Extreme Pre-Release Leaks
Possibly one of the most leaked video games of all time, The Last of Us Part 2 had multiple major data breaches before the game eventually launched in June 2020. By far the biggest leak, potentially in the entire history of gaming, came in April 2020. After a leaker managed to get their hands on about an hour of The Last of Us Part 2 gameplay and cutscene footage, it was posted online for the world to see. This leak contained now-infamous plot details about the game, confirming that Joel would die at the hands of Abby during the game's first act, that Dina was pregnant, and that Jesse would eventually die as well.
These leaks were practically unavoidable at the time, with them dominating headlines and social media discourse in the months leading up to The Last of Us Part 2's release. There's no doubt that these leaks drastically affected The Last of Us Part 2's initial reception, with many taking the leaks at face value, deciding at that moment they didn't like the direction Naughty Dog was taking the series, and forming a lasting opinion about the game's story months before they got their hands on its finished form. And once these opinions were formed, they weren't so easily changed.
Unfortunately, these extensive leaks have become entwined with The Last of Us Part 2's legacy. Four years later, these leaks are still a common part of any conversation surrounding The Last of Us Part 2, and the emotional distress they caused Naughty Dog employees won't be forgotten so easily either.
The Last of Us Part 3 Should Remain in Stealth
If The Last of Us Part 3 does enter development at some point soon, then it's probably a good idea for Sony to allow Naughty Dog to work on the game in secret, and only reveal the sequel when it's practically ready to ship. There are two clear upsides to this approach. Firstly, keeping The Last of Us Part 3's development a total secret would put less pressure on Naughty Dog to deliver the game by a specific date, and would cause less disappointment if the game needed to be delayed, which is another issue that plagued The Last of Us Part 2.
Secondly, keeping The Last of Us Part 3 a secret until its release would drastically lower the risk of another full-blown plot leak, or at least cast enough doubt that fans could more easily disregard it. While most games need a lengthy marketing campaign before release, The Last of Us Part 3 would likely be able to make just as big of an impact if it appeared suddenly out of the blue.
