Earlier this week, both Sony and Naughty Dog revealed the unfortunate news, which most people saw coming, that the upcoming sequel to their 2013 survival-horror blockbuster has been delayed indefinitely, which is the third time that the game has been delayed since the original release date was announced last fall. Of course, it was originally slated for late-February, it was then moved to late-May, and now, there’s no release date attached to it.
The Last of Us Part II’s delay has nothing to do with the game being unfinished, as Naughty Dog’s creative director, Neil Druckmann, said that the team is on the “one-yard line,” while adding that they’re currently working on fixing minor bugs and glitches. Instead, it’s about making sure that everyone can have access to the game when it launches, and due to the COVID-19 outbreak, people might have trouble getting their hands on retail versions of the game.
Since giving the reason for the delay, some fans have called for Naughty Dog to launch The Last of Us Part II on its scheduled release date, which, as previously mentioned, is at the end of next month, but instead of selling physical copies, they should just release it digitally.
A message from us about the delay of The Last of Us Part II: pic.twitter.com/aGsSRfmJ8a
— Naughty Dog (@Naughty_Dog) April 2, 2020
While anything can happen, a digital-only release seems unlikely, but according to Neil Druckmann, both Sony and Naughty Dog are reviewing different options, as they want to get the game out to the fans as soon as possible.
“It’s there, that’s the frustrating part for us. It’s like the game is there, and we have to sit on it for a little bit and figure out what’s the best way to get it to our fans.”
Druckmann also added that the development team is carefully reviewing every asset in the game to make sure that, whenever it does get released, it’ll be “Naughty Dog quality.”
Again, as of right now, there’s no release date attached to The Last of Us Part II, and some think it’s going to be pushed back so far that it’ll be a PlayStation 5 launch title. But, given that games are getting delayed due to the Coronavirus outbreak, it’s probably safe to assume that Sony’s next-generation console, which is scheduled to be released during this year’s holiday season, will be delayed too.
So, unless Sony and Naughty Dog decide to do a digital-only release for The Last of Us Part II, it’s going to be a few more months before we can get our hands on the highly-anticipated PlayStation 4 exclusive.
