With the release of the remake of the first entry in the series released a few months back on PlayStation 5 and the HBO TV show, The Last of Us series by Naughty Dog has never been as popular as it is now. As such, many would expect it to continue with a third entry in the series, but the development studio will not move forward with it if they don't come up with a compelling story to tell.

　　Speaking with BuzzFeed, Naughty Dog co-president Neil Druckmann said that they are not being forced by Sony to create a third entry in the series, as the Japanese publisher has always supported the studio to follow their passions.

　　I know there’s a bunch of people wondering about The Last of Us Part 3 and whether that will be a thing or not,. All I could say is, at Naughty Dog we’re very, very privileged that our publisher is Sony — which means Sony funds our games, supports us, and we’re owned by Sony.

　　They have supported us every step of the way to follow our passions — meaning that just because something is successful, people think there’s all this pressure and we have to make a sequel. That’s not the case.

　　This is why the studio behind The Last of Us was able to move on from the Uncharted series. The fourth entry in the series was one of their best-selling games, but thanks to Sony's support, they were able to end the series where they wanted.

　　For us, Uncharted was insanely successful — Uncharted 4 was one of our best selling games — and we’re able to put our final brushstroke on that story and say that we’re done. We’re moving on.

　　As such, if The Last of Us Part 3 ever gets made, it is up to Naughty Dog, Neil Druckmann confirmed. If they can come up with a compelling story, they will tell such a story. If not, they feel they will have a very strong ending for the series with Part 2's conclusion.

　　Our process is the same thing we did when we did Part 2, which is if we can come up with a compelling story that has this universal message and statement about love — just like the first and second game did — then we will tell that story. If we can’t come up with something, we have a very strong ending with Part 2 and that will be the end.

　　The Last of Us was originally released on PlayStation 3 before getting remastered for PlayStation 4 and then remade for PlayStation 5. The remake will release on PC in a little over a month, on March 3rd, worldwide.