The Last of Us is ten years old and its anniversary came just a few days before Father’s Day.
Why is that important? Because ten years ago, Naughty Dog’s The Last of Us, or The Last of Us: Part I as it’s technically known, introduced us to one of gaming’s greatest father figures. Who hasn’t played The Last of Us and wished that they had a dad just like Joel?
We’re kidding, of course. Sure, Joel is there for Ellie, the girl who he ends up escorting across half of post-apocalyptic America. But what’s fascinating about about The Last of Us, apart from the mushroom zombies, is how people see Joel differently.
To some he genuinely is Dad of the Year. While others see him as a selfish individual who murders just because it suits him and.. well, we’re going to steer clear of spoilers. But it the recent HBO series reignited the debate and it gave us a chuckle to see Naughty Dog celebrating him on Father’s Day.
Speaking of celebrations, should we be getting the party poppers out? Is Naughty Dog moments away from announcing The Last of Us: Part III? Unfortunately, no. While the developer has stated they will be celebrating TLoU’s legacy, they’ve confirmed they won’t be unveiling a third game in the series.
TLOU fans, we're celebrating the 10th anniversary by honoring the series' impact, our studio, and your love for TLOU, and will not be making any game development announcements.
To start, we're sharing some of our favorite Photo Mode shots you submitted: https://t.co/MKG2X8cwMA
— Naughty Dog (@Naughty_Dog) June 14, 2023
Instead, they’ve been sharing behind-the-scenes information, encouraging players to post their best photo mode snaps and so on. They’ve also announced an upcoming collaboration with online shop Gallery Nucleus. That said, the anniversary is overshadowed a little by the issues with The Last of Us Part I’s PC port.
It’s definitely worth checking out Naughty Dog’s development reflections. What cracked us up was hearing that Neil Druckmann left his iPad, containing The Last of Us’s first trailer, on a plane. Fortunately it was locked but the team was expecting it to leak.
You can see what else Naughty Dog has in store by following them on Twitter. We’re hoping that, when the company does announce it, The Last of Us: Part III isn’t one story but many. We’re suckers for a good anthology and there are many, many more tales for The Last of Us to tell.
