Summary
- Naughty Dog's job listing hints at The Last of Us 3 being in development, potentially arriving sooner than fans expected.
- The studio is seeking a Senior Gameplay Animator with experience in creature animation, suggesting a focus on Infected in the game.
- Despite rumors of a new IP, Naughty Dog's success with The Last of Us suggests it will remain committed to delivering a new game.
Naughty Dog may already be working on The Last of Us 3, according to a newly posted job listing. While The Last of Us fans expected that Part 3 would be several years away, this new ad on Naughty Dog's official website gives hope of a closer release date.
Earlier this year, Naughty Dog's Neil Druckmann teased that The Last of Us 3 is a reality, but no official release window has been announced as yet. It has been four years since The Last of Us Part 2's fairly vague ending had players intrigued to know what happens next in Ellie's story. Though Naughty Dog is busy with HBO's The Last of Us Season 2 premiering in 2025, it appears that the studio plans on delivering a third entry of the game's series sooner rather than later, according to a new job listing on its website.
Naughty Dog has posted an ad for a Senior Gameplay Animator. Per the job description, the studio is looking for a candidate with a "strong understanding of creature animation and mechanics." The prospective employee will be in charge of crafting highly realistic gameplay animations "for a broad range of creatures of varied types." The repeated use of the word "creatures" instead of animals strongly hints at the Infected from The Last of Us, who have historically never been called zombies by developers either. This job opportunity could be interpreted as a progression in the development of The Last of Us 3.
Naughty Dog Job Listing Hints at The Last of Us 3
If true, The Last of Us Part 3 could arrive sooner than what players had anticipated. The Last of Us fans were previously discouraged by the cancelation of The Last of Us Online, a highly-anticipated multiplayer spin-off that had been in the works for years. This decision worried players about the future of The Last of Us 3, but Neil Druckmann has revealed that the general concept of the sequel is ready, and this new job listing appears to confirm the game's development.
On the other hand, rumor has it that Naughty Dog is working on a new IP that might be a first-person game, so there is a possibility that the job listing may be addressing this title instead. However, even if Naughty Dog has its hands full with a new project, it is unlikely that the studio would give up on The Last of Us 3. The series is one of the studio's most loved franchises, and Naughty Dog has proven capable of releasing AAA games one after the other, with Uncharted launching four mainline titles within nine years, so the next chapter of The Last of Us is almost certainly on the horizon.
The Last of Us Part 2
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OpenCritic Reviews
- Top Critic Avg: 93 /100 Critics Rec: 95%
- Released
- June 19, 2020
- ESRB
- M for Mature: Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Nudity, Sexual Content, Strong Language, Use of Drugs
- Developer(s)
- Naughty Dog
- Publisher(s)
- Sony
- Engine
- Proprietary
- Franchise
- The Last of Us
WHERE TO PLAY
Play the winner of over 300 Game of the Year awards, remastered for the PlayStation®5 console. Relive or play for the first time Ellie and Abby’s story, now with graphical enhancements, new gameplay modes like the roguelike survival experience No Return, full DualSense® wireless controller integration, and more. Five years after their dangerous journey across the post-pandemic United States, Ellie and Joel have settled down in Jackson, Wyoming. Living amongst a thriving community of survivors has allowed them peace and stability, despite the constant threat of the infected and other, more desperate survivors. When a violent event disrupts that peace, Ellie embarks on a relentless journey to carry out justice and find closur
- Platform(s)
- PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5
- How Long To Beat
- 24 Hours
