The Last of Us has two new projects. Here’s what that means for Part 3

The Last of Us Part 3 has not been announced in Naughty Dog’s latest update. In a September 28 studio blog post, Neil Druckmann confirmed two early-stage projects that will expand the franchise’s canon, but did not identify their formats or call either one a third game.

“Both projects will expand the canon of The Last of Us beyond Part I and Part II,” Druckmann wrote. That is the central promise: more stories in this world. It does not establish that either story takes place after Part II, follows Ellie or is a numbered sequel.

What Naughty Dog confirmed about the two projects

In his post closing The Last of Us Day, Druckmann described the projects as being in “very early stages” and said the studio could not share much about them yet. Game Informer’s September 29 report dates the blog’s publication to the previous day.

Druckmann linked the update to discussion of further stories since Grounded II, the 2024 documentary about making The Last of Us Part II. The new information is that two projects are underway and both are intended to add to the established fictional world.

Why “two projects” does not confirm Part 3

The studio’s choice of “projects” leaves a basic question unanswered: what form will they take? Game Informer’s Wesley LeBlanc highlights that distinction, while GamesRadar’s Catherine Lewis notes that the announcement does not confirm Part 3. Neither report identifies two newly announced games.

There is a separate distinction between expanding canon and advancing a timeline. Druckmann’s wording promises additions to the franchise’s story, but gives no dates or settings within its fictional history. As GamesRadar notes, the projects could occupy different points in that universe; their actual placement remains unknown.

The announcement also names no characters, platforms or release dates for either project. It does not explain whether Ellie’s existing story will continue. Those omissions limit what this update confirms; they do not establish that a third game will never happen.

What Neil Druckmann previously said about a third game

Druckmann’s earlier answers show why a discussion of possibilities needs to be distinguished from a product announcement. In Variety’s March 2025 interview, asked about a third game, he said: “don’t bet on there being more of ‘Last of Us.’ This could be it.” That was a caution, rather than a formal cancellation.

In a separate Variety interview published in September 2025, he said Naughty Dog had debated going straight into The Last of Us 3 after finishing Part II. The studio spent a lengthy period considering ideas, but the team wanted to pursue the science-fiction concept that became Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet.

“The team was really excited to do this sci-fi thing that we’ve been talking about for a while, and that’s where our passions lie,” he told Variety. Asked what would follow Intergalactic, he left the decision open, saying the studio wanted to consider its options after finishing that game.

That same interview discussed the franchise’s graphic novel and television adaptation, and Druckmann said more Last of Us work had yet to be announced. Those examples show how the world has extended beyond numbered games. They do not identify the formats of the two projects now disclosed.

What the 2027 Intergalactic announcement means

The current blog post does include a year for another studio update, but it concerns Intergalactic. Druckmann said Naughty Dog would remain quiet about that game for the rest of 2026 before fully revealing it in 2027, with a fuller look at protagonist Jordan’s science-fiction adventure.

That is a commitment to show more of Intergalactic, not a release date. It supplies no release or reveal timetable for either Last of Us project. The two subjects appear in separate sections of the studio’s post and carry different levels of detail.

What remains unknown about The Last of Us

For anyone waiting for Part 3, the outstanding questions are concrete: the projects’ names, their formats, whose stories they tell and where they fit in the timeline. Naughty Dog has not supplied those answers or said when it will share them. Its confirmed position is that two canon-expanding projects are in early development.