‘The Last of Us Part 2’ Release Date, Speculations: How Much Needs to be Done Before Sequel is Ready?

“The Last of Us Part 2” is one of the most anticipated titles coming out soon; its hype rivaled only by CD Projekt Red’s “Cyberpunk 2077.” Despite the massive excitement surrounding the sequel, Naughty Dog has yet to announce when the game will be released, Daily Star reported.

So how much work still needs to be done before the game finally hits the shelves? As of late, there have been plenty of updates regarding “The Last of Us Part 2.” The most recent of which came from co-game director Anthony Newman asking individuals to join their fold and help finish the last stages of development.

Prior to that announcement, game director Neil Druckmann posted a series of tweets last month confirming that filming for “The Last of Us Part 2” has officially ended. And in 2017, Druckmann confirmed that progress for the sequel is around 50 to 60 percent complete. Having said all of these, there’s a high chance that a late 2019 or early 2020 release date might be happening, with the former the most likely candidate.

There have been plenty of clues providing weight to this claim coming from reliable sources within the gaming industry. For instance, Gustavo Santaolalla said a few months ago that “The Last of Us Part 2” is coming out “very soon.” There’s a possibility that the music composer may have let slip the sequel’s release date, leading a lot of fans to believe that it could come out in 2019.

The same goes for IGN host Alanah Pearce. In January, Pearce asked on Twitter why “The Last of Us Part 2” wasn’t listed as 2019’s most anticipated title. After several people told her that Naughty Dog hasn’t announced anything yet, she replied with this:

“Yeah if you can’t find anything official [about ‘The Last of Us Part 2’] then it’s just my brain firmly remembering something and assuming it was public. A genuinely difficult part of games media is remembering what you are and aren’t allowed to know, and when,” Pearce said. The tweet has been deleted since then but it can still be found here.

It’s still unclear whether this is a genuine mistake by Pearce or she accidentally leaked the release date of “The Last of Us Part 2.” Whatever her reasons may be, development of the sequel is now on its final stages and the gaming community is fervently hoping that it will come out this year.

With the franchise touted as one of the best games to ever grace the market, it’s understandable that fans are dying to get their hands on the title. Hopefully, the narrative is as strong compared to the first entry as the story played a huge part why “The Last of Us Part 2” is receiving this much positivity from gamers across the world.