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Naughty Dog says two early-stage projects will expand The Last of Us canon beyond Part I and Part II, but their formats and platforms remain unknown.
Game Informer reports that Naughty Dog is working on two new projects set in The Last of Us universe. Studio head and series co-creator Neil Druckmann disclosed the work during the studio’s annual Outbreak Day activity, while stressing that both projects are still in very early stages.
According to Game Informer’s account of Druckmann’s Naughty Dog blog post, the projects will expand The Last of Us canon beyond Part I and Part II. That is the confirmed scope of the announcement. Naughty Dog has not identified either project, explained whether they are games, or provided release timing and platform information.
For PlayStation players, the news establishes that Naughty Dog is not treating Part I and Part II as the final word on this fictional world. It does not yet establish what kind of experiences are coming next, who they will follow, or whether they will arrive on PlayStation hardware at all.
Game Informer says Druckmann presented the two projects as a response to earlier discussion about telling more stories in The Last of Us world. The developer did not reveal names, genres, story details, characters, settings, or launch windows. The announcement is therefore best understood as an early confirmation of intent rather than a conventional game reveal.
The most important detail is the stated relationship to the existing canon. Game Informer reports that both projects are intended to expand the series beyond Part I and Part II. This wording leaves room for stories that could take place before, between, during, or after events already covered by the games, but none of those possibilities has been confirmed by Naughty Dog.
Druckmann also indicated that the studio would not return to the setting without a meaningful reason to do so. That is a statement about Naughty Dog’s creative standard, not a description of the projects themselves. There is no confirmed information about their themes, narrative approach, or connection to the characters and locations established in the first two main games.
Another significant limitation is the word project. As Game Informer notes, Naughty Dog has not specifically called the two efforts games. They could eventually take the form of games, television, films, comics, books, or another type of production. At this stage, the source record supports only the broader description supplied by the studio.
Naughty Dog’s The Last of Us history is closely associated with PlayStation. Game Informer’s report places the series’ beginning with the original PlayStation 3 release in 2013. Since then, Naughty Dog has released the Left Behind downloadable content, a PlayStation 4 remaster of the first game, The Last of Us Part II on PlayStation 4, a PlayStation 5 remake of the first game, and a PlayStation 5 remaster of the sequel.
That catalog gives PlayStation players a clear view of how the series has been presented so far: through two main narrative games, a connected piece of downloadable content, and updated versions of earlier releases. The new announcement points toward additional canon, but it does not yet add another entry to that catalog. No product page, release listing, or supported platform has been provided in the available evidence.
For now, the safest platform reading is limited. Naughty Dog has made the announcement in the context of its own series, and the franchise has a substantial PlayStation release history. However, the report does not confirm that either new project will launch on PlayStation 5, a future PlayStation console, PC, or any other platform. Platform expectations should remain separate from the announcement itself.
This distinction matters because the format of a project could affect how PlayStation players experience it. A new game would raise questions about controls, perspective, length, and hardware support. A television or film project would instead extend the world outside the interactive catalog. Comics or books could develop the canon without becoming a new playable release. Those are useful categories for watching, but they are not announcements.
Game Informer reports that the news arrived during Naughty Dog’s Outbreak Day celebration on September 28. In The Last of Us fiction, that date marks the beginning of the Cordyceps brain infection’s global spread. The studio uses the annual fan-focused event to celebrate the series and tease developments, making it the setting for this update.
The event context helps explain the restrained nature of the disclosure. Naughty Dog offered a signal that more stories are being considered and developed, but it did not provide the kind of production information normally associated with a full announcement. There are no confirmed trailers, screenshots, gameplay details, character reveals, or development milestones in the source material.
Game Informer also notes that Naughty Dog has not yet released Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet, the action game revealed during The Game Awards 2024. The report uses that existing project as context for why the additional Last of Us work may be some distance from public release. This is a reasonable scheduling consideration, not a release prediction from Naughty Dog. The studio has not said which team is handling either Last of Us project or how development relates to Intergalactic.
The phrase early stages should guide expectations. In practical terms, it means there is not enough confirmed information to assess the projects as games, compare them with the previous entries, or predict when more details will arrive. Even the eventual names and formats remain unknown.
Analysis: The announcement gives PlayStation players one firm point of interest: the next stories are being framed as additions to the canon rather than simple reissues of existing material. That creates a different expectation from another remaster or remake. A canon-expanding project would need to contribute new information or perspective to the world, although Naughty Dog has not explained what that contribution will be.
There is also a useful distinction between expanding the setting and continuing a specific character’s story. The confirmed wording concerns the canon of The Last of Us, not a named protagonist or a direct sequel. Players should therefore avoid treating the announcement as confirmation of Part III, a return for any particular character, or a continuation of one specific ending.
Analysis: The decision to announce two projects together may eventually show that Naughty Dog is exploring more than one way to build on the series. It could mean two separate stories, two different formats, or simply two productions at very different stages. The evidence does not establish which interpretation is correct, so the useful takeaway is the breadth of the announcement rather than a presumed lineup.
The studio’s emphasis on having something meaningful to say is another point players will likely measure against the final projects. That does not guarantee a particular quality level or creative direction. It does suggest that the stated goal is not merely to add content for its own sake. Whether the finished work achieves that ambition cannot be judged until Naughty Dog reveals substantially more.
What remains unknown
- Format: Naughty Dog has confirmed projects, not games. Their eventual forms have not been identified.
- Platforms: No PlayStation, PC, or other platform has been announced for either project.
- Release timing: There is no launch window, release date, or development milestone in the available announcement.
- Story: Characters, locations, chronology, themes, and the relationship to Part I and Part II are all unconfirmed.
- Production details: Naughty Dog has not named the teams, directors, writers, or other developers attached to the work in the supplied source.
These gaps are especially important because the series has already been released in several forms. A new project could be a major interactive entry, a smaller narrative work, or a non-game expansion, and each possibility would carry different implications for PlayStation players. The current announcement does not allow those possibilities to be ranked.
The next meaningful update should clarify whether the two projects are games. A platform announcement would then establish whether they belong in the PlayStation catalog, while a title or premise would reveal whether Naughty Dog is exploring new characters and places or returning to familiar parts of the setting. Until then, discussion about Part III or a specific protagonist remains speculation.
Players can also watch for information about how these projects fit alongside Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet. Game Informer’s report confirms that Naughty Dog’s other announced action game has not yet been released, but it does not provide a schedule for that title or the two Last of Us projects. Any claim about which will arrive first would go beyond the supplied evidence.
For the moment, the confirmed news is deliberately narrow: Naughty Dog says two very early-stage projects will expand The Last of Us canon beyond Part I and Part II. Their format, platforms, stories, and release plans remain open questions. That makes this a significant update for the series, but not yet a new game announcement for PlayStation.