Last week, Naughty Dog said it would be revealing “new content” in The Last of Us’ universe on September 26, dubbed “The Last of Us Day” as that was the date of the series’ in-universe cordyceps fungus outbreak. We took time to speculate about what this might entail, and it turns out, we were about half right? We did get updates on the long-hidden multiplayer game and the HBO adaptation, but nothing to the level of footage. So, in case you missed it, here’s what Naughty Dog released as part of The Last of Us Day.
First up, there were a few merchandise drops. A statue of Joel as he appears in The Last of Us Part II is coming by way of Dark Horse (I may have already pre-ordered it). Pre-orders are open until October 29, but the statue itself won’t be shipping out until May-June of next year. Something more immediate is a vinyl record of the “Covers and Rarities” EP, which features music performed by stars Ashley Johnson and Troy Baker that was featured in the game when it launched last year. Including “Take On Me” and “Future Days.” However, if you’re not a vinyl person, the EP is also now on all the regular platforms for streaming. All of this was on top of an already pretty extensive merch drop on the PlayStation Gear Store, which was outlined on the PlayStation Blog last week.
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But as for updates on multiplayer, Naughty Dog put out a statement that says it’s not ready to show anything, but is still hiring for the project.
In short, we’re working on it – we see the community comments as many of you clamor for multiplayer and want updates. For now, we’ll say that we love what the team is developing and want to give them time to build out their ambitious project, we’ll reveal more when it’s ready! To that end, we’ve been busy growing our team inside the kennel since The Last of Us Part II launched and are currently in full swing of hiring for MP-related positions (hint hint), so if you or somebody you know qualifies for anything you see on our jobs page, apply!
To wrap all this up, Director Neil Druckmann posted the first image from the upcoming HBO adaptation starring Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey as Joel and Ellie. It’s not much, but the show is still in production until June of next year, so there’s a lot of time between now and then for the team to show more.
When I first saw them on set in full costume, I was like: "Hooooooly shit! It's Joel & Ellie! ????!"
The @HBO adaptation of @Naughty_Dog's The Last of Us is full steam ahead!
Can't wait to show you more (from all of our projects!) Happy #TLoUDay!!! pic.twitter.com/trq9N340FW
— Neil Druckmann (@Neil_Druckmann) September 27, 2021
The Last of Us Part II is a year and change old now, and while all the tie-ins are fine and well, Naughty Dog apparently has an outline for a hypothetical Part III stashed away somewhere. However, the studio says it isn’t working on it. Not yet, anyway. Given that there was a seven-year-long gap between the first two games, it doesn’t seem out of the question that Part III is likely years away. Personally, I’m ready for Naughty Dog to release a new IP, but the studio is reportedly working on a remake of the first game for PlayStation 5.
