Game developer Naughty Dog will be releasing "Uncharted 4: A Thief's End" this April. Not only are many gamers excited about the title's launch, there are also those who take this as a signal for the studio to finally shift its attention to and focus on the sequel of its other game, "The Last of Us."
There are some clues that could indicate that "The Last of Us 2" is now under development. For one, Shuhei Yoshida, president of worldwide studios at Sony Computer Entertainment, revealed a few months ago that Naughty Dog has been playing around with some ideas.
In an interview with Eurogamer in September 2015, he said: "We haven't confirmed 'The Last of Us 2,' but ever since the launch of the first game, people like Neil [Druckmann, creative director] are talking about some ideas for a potential sequel, some experiments that they want to do. It's just talks around development."
He was, however, quick to admit that it was, at the time, not set in stone, saying: "We have no confirmed information for the sequel. But, like many people, we wish to see what it's going to be like, how the story's going to develop, what life these characters have after what happened in 'The Last of Us.'"
"The Last of Us 2" has long been anticipated since the original game was warmly received by the gaming community in 2013. However, Druckmann did not want to raise fans' anticipation -- at least, it can be surmised, not until they're ready.
Back in February 2014, he stated in a Reddit AMA session, "If you're asking about a sequel ... right now I'd say it's 50/50."
Druckmann did not totally discount the possibility of a sequel, though.
Last year, fans got excited when "The Last of Us" voice actor Nolan North let slip during a Q&A session that Naughty Dog was "doing a 'Last of Us 2." He, however, retracted this.
As quoted by MovieNewsGuide, he said, "I apologize to 'Last of Us' fans because I certainly don't know and that's the truth."
Druckmann later clarified North's comments and said that while there were indeed prototypes and they were working on some ideas, they had to shift their focus to "Uncharted 4."
"And just as we were getting close to settling or narrowing that list down, we were asked to work on Uncharted 4," he told GameSpot.
So now, with the release of "Uncharted 4: A Thief's End "-- April 26 in North America, April 27 in Europe, and April 29 in the U.K. -- there's a possibility that "The Last of Us 2" is on its way.
