While it has been rumored for a while now, today we got official confirmation that The Last of Us is getting a sequel that follows an older Ellie and Joel.
(EDIT 5:30 PM: During a panel discussion later in the day, creative director Neil Druckmann confirmed that Ellie will be the playable character in The Last of Us 2. “Joel was the star in the first, Ellie is the star in this one,” said Druckmann. “Ellie plays differently from Joel.”)
The first game was released in 2013 with a big cliffhanger that didn’t make it very clear what would happen to Ellie, so it makes sense for Naughty Dog to return to her. Given Joel’s decision to save Ellie, there’s a lot of juicy ground for a follow-up to cover. Does Ellie feel guilty? Does she...know? What happened to Joel and Ellie’s relationship?
Here’s the trailer:
Ellie sounds pissed, we know that much. And she’s got better guitar skills:
At the moment, The Last of Us Part II is in early development stages, so we’re likely not going to be able to play it for a while still.
So. Who do you think Ellie wants to kill, the Fireflies?
Finally, if you’re thinking to yourself that TLOU did not need a sequel, here’s creative director Neil Druckmann:
I can’t tell you how satisfying it is to finally be able to say that Ellie and Joel are back for another intense, harrowing, and emotional adventure. Like many of you, we have a deep love for the world of The Last of Us and its characters, and while a sequel may have seemed like a foregone conclusion, that wasn’t the case. We knew that it needed to be a story worth telling and, perhaps more importantly, a story worthy of Joel and Ellie. After spending years on different ideas (and almost giving up), we finally uncovered a story that felt special—a story that evolved into an epic journey.