The Last of Us fans are convinced a new PS5 game is in the works

Is Neil Druckmann low key talking about the possibility of The Last of Us 3?

In summer 2025, The Last of Us creative Neil Druckmann announced his departure from the HBO adaptation of the popular PlayStation zombie apocalypse game. But if the game director is no longer working on the TV show, what's he up to these days? If Druckmann's recent social media posts are any indication, it might be — drumroll please — another The Last of Us game.

At least, that is the conclusion that many fans have walked away with after Druckmann uploaded some pictures on Instagram that depict early The Last of Us sketches from 2003. In those days, the concept was merely a game about "a man, his surrogate daughter, and a trek across a broken America," the post reads.

Druckmann says he found the illustrations while cleaning out his garage, which makes it sound random. And maybe it is! But fans are still lingering on Druckmann's word choice near the end of the caption. "Been a wild journey," Druckmann writes. "Grateful for every part of it, especially the few stops that remain on the road ahead."

Druckmann could simply be referring to making literally anything in the future, as he's not retired. But fans also know that Druckmann hasn't completely ruled out the possibility of a new The Last of Us game.

"That last line pretty much confirms part 3," one fan wrote on Druckman's post, which is full of comments with a similar sentiment.

In 2023, Druckmann noted that it was up to Naughty Dog to decide if the studio would continue the series or not. Druckmann said that if Naughty Dog can "come up with a compelling story that has this universal message and statement about love — just like the first and second game did — then we will tell that story. If we can’t come up with something, we have a very strong ending with Part 2 and that will be the end.”

As players of The Last of Us Part 2 are aware, the game more or less feels like a conclusion for Ellie, as the traumatized survivor comes to terms with Joel's death. Then again, the first TLOU game ended on a poignant note that didn't warrant a follow-up — and we got another game all the same. Arguably, it seems like Naughty Dog has had a hard time letting go of the series, given how often and how quickly the studio has remade and adapted the first two games. Each of these creative redoes has brought tweaks big and small to the original story, from what characters look like to how the plot plays out.

We also know that Naughty Dog spent a long time trying to make a multiplayer version of The Last of Us work. While that spin-off was canceled, the series has also enjoyed some renewed interest thanks to the success and acclaim of the TV show. It would make business sense to revisit the world, even if it doesn't mean bringing back Ellie or Abby specifically in something like The Last of Us Part 3.

Whatever Druckmann is scheming, we know two things for sure. One, Naughty Dog is currently in the middle of developing Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet, a futuristic PS5 game starring a bounty hunter that still doesn't have a release date. A new The Last of Us game, then, probably won't be happening soon. The other certainty is that HBO is bringing back TLOU for a third season that will reportedly focus more on Abby's side of the story.