The Last of Us Part III Will Probably Not Happen
We may have seen the last of The Last of Us, at least in video game form. The Last of Us began its journey in 2013 with the initial action game from developer Naughty Dog and writer and co-director Neil Druckmann. The game put players in the role of Joel, a survivor of a fungus-induced plague who must escort a girl named Ellie through a post-apocalyptic world full of mutated creatures and other dangers in the hopes that she may be the key to curing the disease and saving mankind. The Last of Us was a huge hit, number four on the list of bestselling PlayStation 3 games, with its remaster being the sixth-bestselling PlayStation 4 game. This led, inevitably, to a sequel, The Last of Us Part II, which was not quite as warmly received by fans of the original, many of whom took great issue with the story and character arcs. Despite this, The Last of Us Part II was another big hit and became the eighth-bestselling PlayStation 4 game… which, although it was a success, means it sold fewer copies than the remaster of the first game. A hit HBO TV series soon followed, which is about to enter its second season in April.
Things must be looking rosy for the franchise’s future, right? Druckmann has said there will be a third season and maybe even a fourth, all based on The Last of Us Part II. But as far as the video games go, it looks like the series has gone as far as it will go. Druckmann recently spoke to Variety about season 2 of the HBO show, and at the end of the interview, Variety asked him about a possible The Last of Us Part III. Druckmann seemed not to want to discuss a third entry in the video game series, as he’s described as sighing when asked the question. He then says that it’s probably not going to happen:
“I was waiting for this question,” Druckmann says, sighing, when I bring up the prospect of a third game. “I guess the only thing I would say is don’t bet on there being more of ‘Last of Us.’ This could be it.”
The likelihood of there being no Last of Us Part III is interesting because it raises the question of whether the amount of money a piece of media brings in is the last word on its success. The Last of Us Part II was a hit, and it got almost uniformly excellent reviews from critics. However, the audience reaction was much more mixed, with it only having a 5.3 on Metacritic compared to the 93 critic rating. You can search YouTube and find plenty of gaming channels talking about the disrespectful treatment of Joel, the first game’s protagonist, or the grating new villain, or the lack of a satisfying ending to see why so many disliked The Last of Us Part II. (The Critical Drinker made a fantastic video on the subject that I’ll embed below.) However, apologists for the game will point to the raw sales numbers, the game’s ranking on the PS4 charts, and the fact that the HBO show not only exists but is entering its second season with at least a third almost certainly on the way. On paper, The Last of Us Part III should be an inevitability. Yet Druckmann just said it probably won’t happen without giving a reason, even something invoking artistic integrity like, “We feel the story has been told.”
What this tells me is that Naughty Dog (which Druckmann now runs) believes a third game won’t sell all that well. This means they not only know The Last of Us Part II pissed off Last of Us fans but that they likely lost these customers. The reaction, in this case, means more than the raw numbers. We’ve seen things like this in the past in the movie industry; the Star Wars sequel trilogy brought in a lot of money and is constantly touted as a success, yet the franchise has remained dormant on film since The Rise of Skywalker because it trended down with each successive movie (just as The Last of Us Part II did in comparison to its predecessor), and the fan discontent is palpable. The opposite has also happened; Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery was a very modest success at the box office, but when it hit home video, its sales and rentals skyrocketed, and people were quoting the film constantly. This led to New Line Cinema greenlighting a sequel, Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me, and it was a blockbuster hit, topping the $67.7 million worldwide haul of the first film with $312 million. Fan reaction matters in these instances, and it’s something studios look at when considering greenlighting expensive productions, despite a lot of the idiocy going on today. If The Last of Us Part III is not happening, it means Part II is much more hated than the media wanted you to think it was.
Let us know what you think of The Last of Us Part III likely not getting made in the comments!
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