The Last Of Us 2 Will Now Release In May 2020

Sony and Naughty Dog finally set a release date for the highly anticipated The Last of Us Part 2 recently, and we were all ready to set aside a weekend. However, just weeks later, the two companies have decided that February is too early: the follow-up to the PS3 masterpiece has been delayed until Spring 2020, Sony and Naughty Dog announced. [Update: On April 2, Naughty Dog and Sony announced another delay to Last of Us 2, this time without confirming a new release date. This is due to concerns stemming from the coronavirus.]

In a letter to fans from game director Neil Druckmann, a new release date of May 29, 2020 was confirmed for The Last of Us Part 2, moving the game back by over three months. The news is unexpected--after all, the long-awaited release date announcement came less than a month ago and pegged the game as coming to PS4 on February 21, 2020. This delay comes seemingly out of nowhere.

Druckmann acknowledged this, writing, "I know. It was just about a month ago when we had our big blowout for the game, letting media play over two hours of it along with debuting our new story trailer and revealing the release date. The positive response we saw from our community was overwhelming. You can feel the energy among the team members. After working on something for so many years, it’s invigorating to get a glimpse of validation for all the hard work.

"However, it was during the last few weeks, as we were closing out sections of the game, that we realized we simply didn’t have enough time to bring the entire game up to a level of polish we would call Naughty Dog quality. At this point we were faced with two options: compromise parts of the game or get more time. We went with the latter, and this new release date allows us to finish everything to our level of satisfaction while also reducing stress on the team.

"While we’re relieved that we won’t have to compromise our vision, we’re disappointed that we weren’t able to avoid this exact situation. We wish we could’ve foreseen the amount of polish we needed, but the size and scope of this game got the better of us. We hate disappointing our fans and for that we’re sorry.

"We hope you understand that this additional time ensures that The Last of Us Part II lives up to our collective ambition as well as our commitment to the highest level of quality. We know the extra few months will add to what may already be an excruciating wait for all of us. We are grateful for your patience and continued support. Come next May, you will finally rejoin Ellie in The Last of Us Part II."

The release date and Outbreak Day festivities were accompanied by loads of new details, including some from our own hands-on time. Among them was the revelation that TLOU 2 will no longer have multiplayer, though Naughty Dog says a separate online experience is in the works. There was no word about that in the latest announcement, nor whether there are any plans for a PS5 version of The Last of Us 2, given the shortened window between the two releases.