Druckmann Revisits the Beginning
Neil Druckmann recently dipped into the archives and posted a rough 2003 sketch tied to the original pitch for The Last of Us. The drawing looked nothing like the finished game, which is not exactly shocking for a concept that took a full decade to become real.
The game eventually arrived in 2013, but Druckmann’s caption suggested the story may still have a few chapters left, or at least a few loose ends for fans to argue over online.
Cleaning out the garage today and stumbled on my original sketches from 2003 for a game pitch about a man, his surrogate daughter, and a trek across a broken America. Been a wild journey. Grateful for every part of it, especially the few stops that remain on the road ahead.
What Could Be Left?
The Last of Us launched on PlayStation 3 in 2013 and went on to collect more awards than any other game at the time, a record that stood for a while. Seven years later, Naughty Dog followed it with The Last of Us Part II. In between, there were re-releases and Left Behind, the short prequel expansion.
The franchise also moved into television. HBO’s first season of The Last of Us premiered in January 2023 and picked up awards of its own. The show drew a divided response, which is practically a requirement for any major adaptation these days, and it is not finished yet. A third season has not arrived, and is expected next year.
Druckmann has been careful for years not to close the door on another game in the series. Naughty Dog is currently working on Intergalactic: Heretic Prophecy, but in 2025 Druckmann also confirmed that the studio has a separate “secret game” in development.
That leaves fans doing what fans do best, which is taking one vaguely hopeful sentence and building an entire theory wall around it.
Fans Are Reading Between the Lines
Reaction to the Instagram post was immediate. Some fans think Druckmann was referring to the remaining episodes of the TV adaptation. Others assumed it could mean another re-release, because apparently some people enjoy being hurt repeatedly by the same thing.
The more optimistic corners of the fandom are still hoping for a return of Factions, the multiplayer project, or even the canceled The Last of Us extraction game.
For now, there is no clear evidence that Druckmann’s comment was meant as a major tease. Still, The Last of Us has spent more than a decade turning every small hint into a public event, so the speculation is unlikely to stop anytime soon.
