Following the announcement of The Last of Us Part II Remastered, Entertainment Weekly reached out to Naughty Dog's Head of Creative and Co-President (not to mention writer and director) Neil Druckmann to get a comment on the controversial plot that sparked many heated fan reactions. Here's what Druckmann had to say:

　　The release of The Last of Us Part II was a deeply emotional experience for all of us at the studio, and we’re so proud we could tell the story we wanted to with it. It’s ultimately up to fans to decide what does and doesn’t stand the test of time, but in the years since its release, we’ve been continuously blown away by the outpouring of love, support, and acclaim for a game that means so much to Naughty Dog.

　　Seeing fans intensely react to the story as more and more continue to discover it, and we hope that includes many more with The Last of Us Part II Remastered, is a wonderful reminder of the power the stories we tell can have. The impact players have told us these games have on their lives continues to inspire us as we work on future games.

　　Druckmann also talked about some of the new features that will be introduced with the remaster. He called the roguelike mode No Return the highlight of the new version of The Last of Us Part II before commenting on the cut levels and director's commentary.

　　Think of these as levels left on the cutting room floor. These sequences, like an extended party scene in Jackson that offers more insight into Ellie’s life in town, aren’t intended to just let you play through an early in-development version without context. Embedded in each one are interactive elements that will offer developer commentary from our team about the intention of the level, what was going on in the sequence and, ultimately, why it was cut.

　　The director's commentary offered us a chance to really dive into the making-of process with in-the-moment reactions and observations that are intrinsically paired with the experience of playing the game.

　　The Last of Us Part II Remastered will launch on January 19, 2024 for PlayStation 5, featuring improved texture resolution, increased Level-of-Detail distances, improved shadow quality, animation sampling rate, full DualSense support for haptic feedback, and adaptive triggers.

　　January 2024 is also when HBO plans to start filming the second season of the acclaimed TV show. The story of The Last of Us Part II will be adapted over multiple seasons due to its complexity.