Over the last 10 years,The Last of Ushas only continued to grow in popularity. After making an outstanding debut with one of the greatest games ever made,The Last of Usreturned seven years later with another incredible entry in the series, that despite the controversy surrounding it on launch, still managed to amass an excellent critical reception. And withHBO’sThe Last of Usbringing in even more fans, the franchise has really never been better. All that’s needed now isThe Last of Us Part 3.
From the momentThe Last of Us Part 2hit store shelves, video game journalists have been askingNaughty Dog’s Neil Druckmannwhether there will be aLast of Us Part 3or not, and for years now, Druckmann has played his cards very close to his chest. With the recent success of HBO’sThe Last of Us, questions about a hypotheticalLast of Us Part 3have naturally resurfaced, and according to Druckmann’s latest statements, while Naughty Dog is “open” to developing the sequel, it isn’t currently in active development. But according to some recent leaks, that might not be entirely true.
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The Recent Last of Us Part 3 Leaks Explained
Over the weekend, a new set ofThe Last of Us Part 3leaks appeared online. Posted on the leaker’s Patreon, DanielRPK made several big claims aboutThe Last of Us Part 3’s alleged story and cast of characters. According to DanielRPK,The Last of Us Part 3will focus on a completely new group of survivors for at least part of its story. The group of five scavengers will reportedly be based in an old Victorian house on the outskirts of a devastated city.
DanielRPK also went into some detail about these supposed new characters. The first new character is Lucas, a friendly and kind-mannered survivor that will apparently end up turning a little darker throughout the game after he develops a relationship with another young scavenger in the group. Val will apparently be the leader of the house, though Ezra seeks to take control for himself. Mason is a former soldier, though the leak doesn’t specify which military faction he belonged to, such asFEDRA or the WLF. Mason is torn between his loyalty to Ezra and what he believes to be best for the house as a whole. The final character mentioned in the leak is Gracie, with only her age of 18-25 being noted.
While that was the end of DanielRPK’s leak, fellow leaker ViewerAnon took to Twitter to claim that this was true. ViewerAnon also claimed thatEllie will be returning inThe Last of Us Part 3, stating that she will be “as important” as she was inThe Last of Us Part 2. Later on in the same thread, ViewerAnon also mentioned that “major filming” for the game is happening this year, referring to the title’s alleged motion capture process.
Though the motion capture process can vary wildly between different studios and projects, it’s often the case that the motion capture stage is completed fairly on in development for something as narrative-driven asThe Last of Us. So, if these rumors are true, thenThe Last of Us Part 3could still be quite a ways off.
Of course, every leak should always be taken with a hefty pinch of salt. Though both DanielRPK and ViewerAnon have correctly leaked and predicted past projects, it doesn’t mean that these leaks are true. Even inViewerAnon’s original tweet, they mention thatThe Last of Us Part 3is still very early on in pre-production, and that these story details could easily be changed during development.
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