The Last of Us Part 3: everything we know so far

Release speculation

While we know that The Last of Us Part 3 is at least being worked on in some capacity at Naughty Dog, we have no idea how far along it is or when we can expect to see it. Based on the incredible level of polish and attention to detail the studio likes to put into its games, it is possible we won’t see The Last of Us Part 3 until 2027 or later.

Platforms

The only thing we know for sure is that The Last of Us Part 3 will be on PlayStation platforms, specifically the PS5. Unless the game takes so long that a next-generation system comes out and the team decides not to make it cross-generational, you can feel safe knowing it will be playable on your PS5.

Since both previous games have made their way to PC, The Last of Us Part 3 likely will too. Previous games took over a year to arrive on PC, and while things may change by the time the game finally arrives, it is safe to assume PC players will wait at least a full year before it comes to that platform.

Trailers

There’s not a single trailer, screenshot, or even piece of concept art for The Last of Us Part 3. All we have for now are a few words about its existence in the most high-level way.

The first real word about Naughty Dog working on single-player projects came with its statement on the cancellation of The Last of Online, in which the studio states “We have more than one ambitious, brand new singl- player game that we’re working on here at Naughty Dog, and we cannot wait to share more about what comes next when we’re ready.”

With the release of The Last of Us Part 2 Remastered, we also got the making-of documentary called Grounded 2. At the very end, Druckmann spoke about a possible third entry. “I’ve been thinking about, ‘Is there a concept there?’ And for now years, I haven’t been able to find that concept. But recently, that’s changed. I don’t have a story, but I do have that concept that, to me, is as exciting as I, as exciting as II, is its own thing, yet has this throughline for all three. So it does feel like there’s probably one more chapter to this story.”

While it isn’t technically confirmed to be related to The Last of Us Part 3, Troy Baker, who played Joel in both games, had an interview with GQ mainly focused on Indiana Jones and the Great Circle in which he confirms to be part of whatever Druckmann’s next game is. Technically, this could be one of the other projects the studio has said it is working on, especially since we know the fate of Joel. However, there are plenty of ways Joel, or even a new character played by Troy, could feature in a third game.

Gameplay

Both The Last of Us games follow a similar stealth-action style of gameplay with limited resources and light horror elements. We suspect the third game to at least use this same base, but include new weapons, enemies, and mechanics in the same way the sequel evolved over the first.

Preorder

The Last of Us Part 3 is only barely announced, let alone deep in development. It could be a long time before we see it, so preorders are still a long way away.