{"id":1856323,"date":"2026-03-31T10:08:13","date_gmt":"2026-03-31T07:08:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1856323"},"modified":"2026-03-31T10:08:13","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T07:08:13","slug":"the-last-of-us-creator-neil-druckmann-teases-a-few-stops-left-for-naughty-dogs-post-apocalyptic-series","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1856323","title":{"rendered":"The Last of Us creator Neil Druckmann teases a &#8220;few stops&#8221; left for Naughty Dog&#8217;s post-apocalyptic series"},"content":{"rendered":"<article class=\"article \" data-ads=\"true\" data-article-type=\"news\" data-article-group=\"news\" data-paywalled=\"false\" data-premium=\"false\" data-sponsored=\"false\" data-type=\"article\">\n<header class=\"article_header\" data-component=\"article-header\">\n<div class=\"breadcrumbs\">\n<nav class=\"nav_breadcrumbs\" data-component=\"nav-breadcrumbs\" aria-label=\"Breadcrumb\">\n<ul class=\"nav-links\">\n<li>\n                <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/\" data-active=\"false\"><br \/>\n                      Home<br \/>\n                <\/a>\n            <\/li>\n<li>\n                <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/news\" data-active=\"false\"><br \/>\n                      News<br \/>\n                <\/a>\n            <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/nav><\/div>\n<div class=\"headline_details\" id=\"main-content\">\n<h1 class=\"title\">The Last of Us creator Neil Druckmann teases a &#8220;few stops&#8221; left for Naughty Dog&#8217;s post-apocalyptic series<\/h1>\n<p class=\"strapline\">Stalker the stalk.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"headline_asset\">\n<figure class=\"headline_image_wrapper\">\n<p>        <img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"headline_image\" src=\"https:\/\/assetsio.gnwcdn.com\/The-Last-of-Us-Part-1-screenshot-showing-Joel-and-Ellie-on-the-back-of-horse.jpg?width=570&amp;quality=85&amp;format=jpg&amp;dpr=3&amp;auto=webp\" alt=\"The Last of Us Part 1 screenshot showing Joel and Ellie on the back of horse\" loading=\"eager\" data-uri=\"The-Last-of-Us-Part-1-screenshot-showing-Joel-and-Ellie-on-the-back-of-horse.jpg\" data-lightbox width=\"570\" height=\"321\"><figcaption>\n          <span class=\"attribution\">Image credit: <cite>Naughty Dog<\/cite><\/span><br \/>\n        <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"metadata\">\n<div class=\"avatar\">\n<p>    <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Victoria Phillips Kennedy avatar\" src=\"https:\/\/assetsio.gnwcdn.com\/1644925423.jpg?width=2048&amp;height=2048&amp;fit=bounds&amp;quality=85&amp;format=jpg&amp;auto=webp\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 1\" width=\"180\" height=\"179\"><\/p>\n<p>  <img alt=\"Victoria Phillips Kennedy avatar\" data-autosize=\"crop_lossy\" data-uri=\"1644925423.jpg\" loading=\"lazy\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 1\" width=\"180\" height=\"179\">\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"text\">\n<div class=\"byline\">\n                  <span class=\"article_type\" data-slug=\"news\"><br \/>\n                    News<br \/>\n                  <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"by\">by<\/span> <span class=\"author\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/authors\/victoria-kennedy\">Victoria Phillips Kennedy<\/a><\/span>                    <span class=\"job_title\"><br \/>\n                      News Reporter<br \/>\n                    <\/span>\n            <\/div>\n<div class=\"published_at\">\nPublished on <time datetime=\"2026-03-31T10:08:13+00:00\">March 31, 2026<\/time>              <\/div>\n<div class=\"comments\">\n      <a class=\"comments__link comments-bubble\" href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/the-last-of-us-creator-neil-druckmann-teases-a-few-stops-left-for-its-post-apocalyptic-series?view=comments\" rel=\"nofollow\"><br \/>\n          5 comments<br \/>\n      <\/a>\n    <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"mypop-header-wrapper\">\n<p><button class=\"mypop-button button wide\" data-state=\"follow\" data-type=\"tag\" data-uuid=\"cac9de81-a70f-41b6-8627-949fd8083bf2\" data-name=\"The Last of Us\" data-follow-text=\"Follow The Last of Us\" data-unfollow-text=\"Following The Last of Us\" data-aria-follow-text=\"Follow The Last of Us\" data-aria-unfollow-text=\"Following The Last of Us\" data-popup=\"true\" data-force-login=\"true\" aria-label=\"Follow The Last of Us\" title=\"Follow The Last of Us\"><br \/>\n  Follow The Last of Us<br \/>\n<\/button>          <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/header>\n<div class=\"article_body\" data-component=\"article-content\">\n<div class=\"article_body_content article-styling\">\n<p>Head of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/companies\/naughty-dog\">Naughty Dog<\/a> Neil Druckmann has shared two early sketches of what would eventually become Joel and Ellie in The Last of Us, teasing a &#8220;few stops&#8221; still left on the series&#8217; &#8220;road ahead&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p>In an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/DWfAAKhEmcA\/?img_index=2&amp;igsh=cTQxaGhuNmlkNHZy\">Instagram post<\/a> shared earlier this week, Druckmann wrote: &#8220;Cleaning out the garage today and stumbled on my original sketches from 2003 for a game pitch about a man, his surrogate daughter, and a trek across a broken America.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>That game would, of course, become The Last of Us, one of the studio&#8217;s most prolific entries to date. Adding it had been a &#8220;wild journey&#8221;, Druckmann closed his post with a brief teaser. &#8220;Grateful for every part of it, especially the few stops that remain on the road ahead,&#8221; he wrote, firmly suggesting that The Last of Us will not end with Part 2.<\/p>\n<p><!-- code from Primis - Eurogamer.net - eurogamer.net --><\/p>\n<div class=\"primis_wrapper\">\n<div class=\"primis_video\">\n<p><span class=\"embed_placeholder\" data-type=\"targeting\"><br \/>\n<span class=\"message\">To see this content please enable targeting cookies.<\/span><br \/>\n<button class=\"optanon-show-settings link\"><br \/>\nManage cookie settings<\/button><\/span> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><!-- code from Primis --><\/p>\n<p>Many fans have been hoping for a third series entry since the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/the-last-of-us-part-2-review-a-gut-wrenching-sequel\">release of The Last of Us Part 2 in 2020<\/a>. In 2021, Druckmann <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/the-last-of-us-3-has-a-story-outline-neil-druckmann-hopes-will-one-day-see-the-light-of-day\">said he&#8217;d penned a story outline for a potential The Last of Us Part 3<\/a>, and admitted there&#8217;d been &#8220;quite a bit&#8221; discussion about a sequel. In 2023, the Naughty Dog exec once again <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/naughty-dog-moving-on-from-uncharted-open-to-the-last-of-us-part-3-if-it-has-a-compelling-story\">addressed a possible third series entry<\/a>, saying he was open to it, but only if the team could come up with a &#8220;compelling story&#8221; to tell. Then, in 2024, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/the-last-of-us-part-3-could-be-one-more-chapter-to-this-story-says-co-creator-druckmann\">Druckmann said he had a &#8220;concept&#8221; ready for a third and final chapter of the studio&#8217;s Last of Us series<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"injection_placeholder\" data-position=\"1\"><\/span><\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t have a story, but I do have that concept that, to me, is as exciting as [Part 1], as exciting as [Part 2], is its own thing, yet has this throughline for all three [games]. So it does feel like there&#8217;s probably one more chapter to this story,&#8221; he said at the time.<\/p>\n<p>Oddly, though, he then seemed to go back on <em>all <\/em>of that last year, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/naughty-dog-boss-says-dont-bet-on-there-being-a-the-last-of-us-part-3\">when he said<\/a>: &#8220;Don&#8217;t bet on there being more.&#8221; So, what&#8217;s the deal, Druckmann?<\/p>\n<p>Naughty Dog is getting quite a bit of mileage out of its The Last of Us series. Along with an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/the-last-of-us-season-three-reportedly-casts-abbys-father\">upcoming third season of HBO&#8217;s The Last of Us TV adaptation<\/a>, the developer in the last couple of years has also debuted a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/digitalfoundry-2024-the-last-of-us-part-2-remastered-ps5-tech-analysis\">souped-up PlayStation 5 Part 2 Remastered release<\/a>, as well as a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/the-last-of-us-part-2-remastered-finally-gets-itself-a-pc-release-date\">PC version of The Last of Us Part 2<\/a> (which followed a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/digitalfoundry-2023-the-last-of-us-part-1-on-pc-what-we-think-so-far\">PC release<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/digitalfoundry-2022-the-last-of-us-part-1-the-digital-foundry-tech-review\">remastered release<\/a> of the first game in the series).<\/p>\n<figure data-count=\"2\" role=\"group\">\n<figure>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Sketch of a male character and a small girl\" height=\"711\" src=\"https:\/\/assetsio.gnwcdn.com\/image-(81).png?width=2048&amp;height=2048&amp;fit=bounds&amp;quality=85&amp;format=jpg&amp;auto=webp\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 0.7524613220815752\" width=\"535\"><\/p>\n<p><img alt=\"Sketch of a male character and a small girl\" data-autosize=\"crop_lossy\" data-lightbox data-uri=\"image-(81).png\" height=\"711\" loading=\"lazy\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 0.7524613220815752\" width=\"535\"><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<figure>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Sketch of a male character with a young girl\" height=\"703\" src=\"https:\/\/assetsio.gnwcdn.com\/image-(80).png?width=2048&amp;height=2048&amp;fit=bounds&amp;quality=85&amp;format=jpg&amp;auto=webp\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 0.748221906116643\" width=\"526\"><\/p>\n<p><img alt=\"Sketch of a male character with a young girl\" data-autosize=\"crop_lossy\" data-lightbox data-uri=\"image-(80).png\" height=\"703\" loading=\"lazy\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 0.748221906116643\" width=\"526\"><\/p>\n<\/figure><figcaption><span class=\"attribution\">Image credit: <cite>Neil Druckmann via Instagram<\/cite><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Away from The Last of Us, the studio is currently working on Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet, the start of an all new franchise. Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet was first announced at the end of 2024, with a trailer <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/naughty-dog-announces-all-new-ip-intergalactic-the-heretic-prophet\">featuring a retro futuristic energy that introduced us to Tati Gabrielle&#8217;s bounty hunter<\/a>, Jordan A Mun.<\/p>\n<p>While we still don&#8217;t know a huge amount about Naughty Dog&#8217;s upcoming release, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/after-the-hate-directed-at-the-last-of-us-part-2-naughty-dog-boss-says-next-game-about-the-entirely-uncontroversial-topics-of-faith-and-religion\">Druckmann revealed last March that Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophecy explores the topics of &#8220;faith and religion&#8221;<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"preferred-source\" data-component=\"preferred-source\">\nLove Eurogamer.net? Make us a <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/preferences\/source?q=https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\">Preferred Source on Google<\/a> and catch more of our coverage in your feeds.  <\/div>\n<\/article>\n<div class=\"article_body\" data-component=\"article-content\">\n<div class=\"article_body_content article-styling\">\n<p>Head of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/companies\/naughty-dog\">Naughty Dog<\/a> Neil Druckmann has shared two early sketches of what would eventually become Joel and Ellie in The Last of Us, teasing a &#8220;few stops&#8221; still left on the series&#8217; &#8220;road ahead&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p>In an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/DWfAAKhEmcA\/?img_index=2&amp;igsh=cTQxaGhuNmlkNHZy\">Instagram post<\/a> shared earlier this week, Druckmann wrote: &#8220;Cleaning out the garage today and stumbled on my original sketches from 2003 for a game pitch about a man, his surrogate daughter, and a trek across a broken America.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>That game would, of course, become The Last of Us, one of the studio&#8217;s most prolific entries to date. Adding it had been a &#8220;wild journey&#8221;, Druckmann closed his post with a brief teaser. &#8220;Grateful for every part of it, especially the few stops that remain on the road ahead,&#8221; he wrote, firmly suggesting that The Last of Us will not end with Part 2.<\/p>\n<p><!-- code from Primis - Eurogamer.net - eurogamer.net --><\/p>\n<div class=\"primis_wrapper\">\n<div class=\"primis_video\">\n<p><span class=\"embed_placeholder\" data-type=\"targeting\"><br \/>\n<span class=\"message\">To see this content please enable targeting cookies.<\/span><br \/>\n<button class=\"optanon-show-settings link\"><br \/>\nManage cookie settings<\/button><\/span> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><!-- code from Primis --><\/p>\n<p>Many fans have been hoping for a third series entry since the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/the-last-of-us-part-2-review-a-gut-wrenching-sequel\">release of The Last of Us Part 2 in 2020<\/a>. In 2021, Druckmann <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/the-last-of-us-3-has-a-story-outline-neil-druckmann-hopes-will-one-day-see-the-light-of-day\">said he&#8217;d penned a story outline for a potential The Last of Us Part 3<\/a>, and admitted there&#8217;d been &#8220;quite a bit&#8221; discussion about a sequel. In 2023, the Naughty Dog exec once again <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/naughty-dog-moving-on-from-uncharted-open-to-the-last-of-us-part-3-if-it-has-a-compelling-story\">addressed a possible third series entry<\/a>, saying he was open to it, but only if the team could come up with a &#8220;compelling story&#8221; to tell. Then, in 2024, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/the-last-of-us-part-3-could-be-one-more-chapter-to-this-story-says-co-creator-druckmann\">Druckmann said he had a &#8220;concept&#8221; ready for a third and final chapter of the studio&#8217;s Last of Us series<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"injection_placeholder\" data-position=\"1\"><\/span><\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t have a story, but I do have that concept that, to me, is as exciting as [Part 1], as exciting as [Part 2], is its own thing, yet has this throughline for all three [games]. So it does feel like there&#8217;s probably one more chapter to this story,&#8221; he said at the time.<\/p>\n<p>Oddly, though, he then seemed to go back on <em>all <\/em>of that last year, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/naughty-dog-boss-says-dont-bet-on-there-being-a-the-last-of-us-part-3\">when he said<\/a>: &#8220;Don&#8217;t bet on there being more.&#8221; So, what&#8217;s the deal, Druckmann?<\/p>\n<p>Naughty Dog is getting quite a bit of mileage out of its The Last of Us series. Along with an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/the-last-of-us-season-three-reportedly-casts-abbys-father\">upcoming third season of HBO&#8217;s The Last of Us TV adaptation<\/a>, the developer in the last couple of years has also debuted a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/digitalfoundry-2024-the-last-of-us-part-2-remastered-ps5-tech-analysis\">souped-up PlayStation 5 Part 2 Remastered release<\/a>, as well as a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/the-last-of-us-part-2-remastered-finally-gets-itself-a-pc-release-date\">PC version of The Last of Us Part 2<\/a> (which followed a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/digitalfoundry-2023-the-last-of-us-part-1-on-pc-what-we-think-so-far\">PC release<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/digitalfoundry-2022-the-last-of-us-part-1-the-digital-foundry-tech-review\">remastered release<\/a> of the first game in the series).<\/p>\n<figure data-count=\"2\" role=\"group\">\n<figure>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Sketch of a male character and a small girl\" height=\"711\" src=\"https:\/\/assetsio.gnwcdn.com\/image-(81).png?width=2048&amp;height=2048&amp;fit=bounds&amp;quality=85&amp;format=jpg&amp;auto=webp\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 0.7524613220815752\" width=\"535\"><\/p>\n<p><img alt=\"Sketch of a male character and a small girl\" data-autosize=\"crop_lossy\" data-lightbox data-uri=\"image-(81).png\" height=\"711\" loading=\"lazy\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 0.7524613220815752\" width=\"535\"><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<figure>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Sketch of a male character with a young girl\" height=\"703\" src=\"https:\/\/assetsio.gnwcdn.com\/image-(80).png?width=2048&amp;height=2048&amp;fit=bounds&amp;quality=85&amp;format=jpg&amp;auto=webp\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 0.748221906116643\" width=\"526\"><\/p>\n<p><img alt=\"Sketch of a male character with a young girl\" data-autosize=\"crop_lossy\" data-lightbox data-uri=\"image-(80).png\" height=\"703\" loading=\"lazy\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 0.748221906116643\" width=\"526\"><\/p>\n<\/figure><figcaption><span class=\"attribution\">Image credit: <cite>Neil Druckmann via Instagram<\/cite><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Away from The Last of Us, the studio is currently working on Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet, the start of an all new franchise. Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet was first announced at the end of 2024, with a trailer <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/naughty-dog-announces-all-new-ip-intergalactic-the-heretic-prophet\">featuring a retro futuristic energy that introduced us to Tati Gabrielle&#8217;s bounty hunter<\/a>, Jordan A Mun.<\/p>\n<p>While we still don&#8217;t know a huge amount about Naughty Dog&#8217;s upcoming release, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/after-the-hate-directed-at-the-last-of-us-part-2-naughty-dog-boss-says-next-game-about-the-entirely-uncontroversial-topics-of-faith-and-religion\">Druckmann revealed last March that Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophecy explores the topics of &#8220;faith and religion&#8221;<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Home News The Last of Us creator Neil Druckmann teases a &#8220;few stops&#8221; left for Naughty Dog&#8217;s post-apocalyptic series Stalker the stalk. Image credit: Naughty Dog News by Victoria Phillips Kennedy News Reporter Published on March 31, 2026 5 comments Follow The Last of Us Head of Naughty Dog Neil Druckmann has shared two early [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[226,253],"class_list":["post-1856323","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-crawlmanager","tag-eurogamer-net"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1856323","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1856323"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1856323\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1856323"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1856323"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1856323"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}