The Last of Us director Neil Druckmann teases a 'few stops that remain on the road ahead' of the beloved Naughty Dog series

• Naughty Dog head Neil Druckmann has teased the future of The Last of Us
• In a throwback Instagram post, the developer shared the first sketches of characters Joel and Ellie from 2003
• Druckmann also referred to a "few stops that remain on the road ahead"

Naughty Dog studio head and The Last of Us director Neil Druckman has seemingly teased the future of the PlayStation series.

In a recent Instagram post, Druckmann shared a post that read, "Cleaning out the garage today and stumbled on my original sketches from 2003 for a game pitch about a man, his surrogate daughter, and a trek across a broken America."

The director included the sketches, which early early renditions of Joel and Ellie years before they came to life in Naughty Dog's The Last of Us for the PlayStation 3.

The now-beloved post-apocalyptic game went on to be the studio's biggest, critically acclaimed title, and later received an equally acclaimed sequel in 2020 with The Last of Us: Part 2.

However, it's the rest of Druckmann's post that has fans speculating on the future of the series.

"Been a wild journey," he added. "Grateful for every part of it, especially the few stops that remain on the road ahead."

Could Druckmann be teasing The Last of Us Part 3? Yet another update for The Last of Us Part 1 and Part 2 for current-gen consoles? We'll have to wait and see.

Naughty Dog typically announces new content and news on its annual Last of Us Day, which is held on September 28, and other major reveals during Sony's State of Play showcases.

Druckmann also announced last year that he was stepping away as co-showrunner on HBO's The Last of Us series following season 2, but will remain involved at a "high level", so there's always a possibility the developer is talking about the television adaptation in his post.

Druckmann touched on the possibility of The Last of Us Part 3 rumors, saying, "the only thing I would say is don’t bet on there being more of 'Last of Us.' This could be it." However, the director's statement contradicted what he'd previously said about the potential of there being "one more chapter to this story".

During the Grounded 2: Making of The Last of Us Part 2 documentary, Druckmann spoke on the series finality, saying, "If we never get to do it again, this is a fine ending point. Last bite of the apple, the story's done."

He also mentioned that he has a "concept" that could be "as exciting" as both The Last of Us games, adding, "I've been just thinking about it, 'is there a concept there?' And for now years, I haven't been able to find that concept."

For now, Naughty Dog is working on its new single-player game in development for the PS5, Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet.

The best gaming consoles

➡️ Read our full guide to the best gaming consoles
1. Best overall:
PlayStation 5 Slim
2. Best budget:
Xbox Series S
3. Best handheld:
Nintendo Switch 2
4. Most powerful:
PlayStation 5 Pro

Follow TechRadar on Google News and add us as a preferred source to get our expert news, reviews, and opinion in your feeds. Make sure to click the Follow button!

And of course you can also follow TechRadar on TikTok for news, reviews, unboxings in video form, and get regular updates from us on WhatsApp too.