Update, 4/27/20:
In a surprising turn of events, The Last of Us Part II is not infinitely delayed. PlayStation announced on Monday that the anticipated Naughty Dog title will release on June 19. So to be clear: The Last of Us Part II arrives June 19. As in, mere months from now.
And if you’re following Ghost of Tsushima, it will be out on July 17. From their statement: “As our teams at Sony Interactive Entertainment and Worldwide Studios approach development milestones and confront a world changed by COVID-19, we find ourselves having to adapt to today’s ever-changing environment. Amidst some disruptions to our working styles, we wanted to provide an update to PlayStation gamers who are eager to learn when our next exclusive titles will arrive to PlayStation 4.
As we begin to see an ease in the global distribution environment, I am pleased to confirm that The Last of Us Part II will arrive on June 19. And Ghost of Tsushima will follow on July 17.”
Original post:
It’s a terrifying dystopian world. A deadly contagion has brought much of society to a screeching halt. Resources are scare. People fear leaving their homes, but know they must to get supplies. Humanity longs for a return to stability and an end to the plague.
Yes, I’m doing a thing here; it’s both the world as we know it under COVID-19 and the fantastical horror landscape of The Last of Us. Naughty Dog’s landmark in survival horror storytelling is one of the singular game experiences of the previous console generation. We just want to play the sequel! But sadly, that looks even less likely now.
Update: SIE has made the difficult decision to delay the launch of The Last of Us Part II and Marvel's Iron Man VR until further notice. Logistically, the global crisis is preventing us from providing the launch experience our players deserve.
— PlayStation (@PlayStation) April 2, 2020
In a tweet on Thursday, Sony announced the delay of The Last of Us Part II and Marvel’s Iron Man VR “until further notice”. This comes after Naughty Dog pushed the release date from an expected February 21 release to May 29. No new release date has been announced.
Naughty Dog released its own follow-up statement shortly after Sony’s explaining that the game is almost done; but “due to logistics out of our control, we couldn’t launch The Last of Us Part II to our satisfaction.”
A message from us about the delay of The Last of Us Part II: pic.twitter.com/aGsSRfmJ8a
— Naughty Dog (@Naughty_Dog) April 2, 2020
They want to ensure everyone gets to play the game “around the same time” which is likely the result of some spoilery elements in the storyline they’d rather not see pop up before the majority of people have had their chance at it. Naughty Dog further said they want to “preserve the best experience for everyone.”
Sony/Naughty Dog
The Last of Us Part II has had an incredibly long gestation period. After announcing the game in December 2016, the second trailer debuted in 2017. That means fans have had to wait to see what becomes of Ellie and Joel in an even further-along post-apocalyptic future for over three years now. One can only hope all of these delays will be worth it, but with the real world so uncertain at the moment, we just won’t know for awhile.
Our own Dan Casey got to play three hours of the game last September. He said it “not only lives up to my astronomical expectations, but is well on its way to being a top contender for 2020’s game of the year”. Well, maybe 2020.
At least we still have the news that HBO will eventually make a TV series of The Last of Us. Again, at this point, who can say when that will happen.
Featured Image: Sony/Naughty Dog
Kyle Anderson is the Senior Editor for Nerdist. You can find his film and TV reviews here. Follow him on Twitter!