The Last of Us Part II delayed until further notice
Naughty Dog wants everyone to play “around the same time” and not be spoiled
This is an absolute bombshell and a decision that I’m sure pains Naughty Dog more than the inevitable fan backlash. Until further notice, The Last of Us Part II has been delayed. Like everything else, the culprit is, of course, the ongoing global pandemic, COVID-19.
As Naughty Dog notes in their tweet (can also read their blog post), the studio wants everyone to be able to enjoy TLoU II around the same time, and with many cities, states, and countries in complete lockdown, that simply won’t be possible. If PlayStation 4 were an all-digital console, this wouldn’t be a problem, but alas, people still buy physical media, and a great many of them would likely be spoiled on the game.
Naughty Dog also makes mention of working on fixing “final bugs,” and with a majority of the studio working from home, I could see their efforts slowed down by their new work realty. However, if that were the case, we would have seen the game perhaps slip a few weeks furthers with a launch date.
Instead, as it stands, until the global climate shifts and this pandemic is brought under control, The Last of Us Part II is delayed indefinitely. I appreciate the studio not attaching a targeted release date to the game because the truth is, no-one knows when things will return to normal. Any dates thrown for when a convention is being rescheduled for or park openings are numbers that are guestimates at best.
While this news is unfortunate for those of us looking for another world to escape to, I believe it’s the right one. Imagine if some experienced Avengers Endgame across the globe while others had to wait months potentially. Semi-related to all this and I think you’ll be able to make the connection:
As a friend of the site notes:
Do you think Naughty Dog is doing the right thing by delaying The Last of Us Part II?
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