'The Last of Us 2' Release Date, News & Update: Development Ongoing As Naughty Dog Shifts Away From 'Uncharted 4'

The latest direct update about the popular zombie-apocalypse game was when Seasoned voice actor veteran Nolan North. "I know they're doing a 'Last of Us 2,'" North told the audience during the Metrocon panel. 

The actor who played Nathan Drake in Naughty Dog's other hit series "Uncharted," has apparently dropped the bomb at MetroCon 2015, as seen on a video uploaded by Youtuber mrgeekmeout. Naughty Dog's Neil Druckmann did confirm that they have been working on "prototypes for different ideas within 'The Last of Us' universe," although there are no recent confirmations that the sequel is already in the works.

There is no way of knowing for sure if "The Last of Us 2" is actively in the works, but Druckmann said that in the past that unless the single-player expansion for "Uncharted 4" is complete, the sequel will not be fully the team's focus. "Uncharted 4" has been released since May 2016.

Speaking to Games Radar back in April, Druckmann said that they were working on samples for different ideas within "The Last of Us" universe. However, he admitted that he and Straley also explored the possibilities of setting "The Last of Us 2" outside of the game's universe "without going into specific genres."

This suggests that Naughty Dog may actually be willing to change things drastically come "The Last of Us 2" in the form of new characters, a brand new genre, or a fresh story. Last year, Druckmann said that they had ideas for a science-fiction version as well as a fantasy one and that they went so far as to build prototypes for those as well, according to the same post.

This presents the possibility that "The Last of Us 2" will be considerably different from the first one. This might also mark the end of "The Last of Us" protagonists Joel and Ellie's story. Druckmann said that they were close to "narrowing the list down" when they worked on "Uncharted 4," which means that they already have a clear vision of the sequel.

As for the release date, it could be anytime in the next four to five years. The rumor mills suggest an earlier June 2018 launch, though, but there is no final word from Naughty Dog yet.