To that point, Naughty Dog offered a brief update on development progress for The Last of Us 2 during the game’s PSX panel, and it sounds like the game still has some work left to be done. But the good news is the studio believes it is about 50 or 60 percent done with the sequel and is starting to hand off certain aspects to new teams.
Game director Neil Druckmann was quick to point out that he isn’t entirely sure how far along the game is, but it does sound like The Last of Us 2 is progressing nicely. Unfortunately, the PSX panel did not include any new footage of the game, just some general quotes about its development and what fans can expect.
It’s important to note that once The Last of Us Part 2 reaches 100% that doesn’t mean the title will be ready for release. There is still a lot of testing and QA to be done and Naughty Dog will no doubt want to make sure the entire project is as polished as possible. The studio also doesn’t want to commit to a release date with only about half of the game done and then have to delay the game and disappoint fans.
So as far as a release date is concerned, it seems most likely that The Last of Us 2 is looking at a late 2018 release at the earliest. More likely the title will be released in 2019, perhaps earlier in the year than later.
In the past, a major PS4 exclusive like this would be a given for fall 2019, but Sony has been favoring the earlier parts of the year lately. Horizon: Zero Dawn found great success with a March release and God of War is set to hit in the first half of next year. Perhaps, The Last of Us Part 2 will be Sony’s kick-off to a big 2019.
The Last of Us Part 2 will be available exclusively on the PS4.
