'The Last of Us 2' release date rumors: Can fans expect sequel soon?

It's been hard to confirm if the development of "The Last of Us 2" is going to push through, with the voice actor of the original game Nolan North stated at the MetroCon last year that Naughty Dog Studios, the team behind the hit video game, is already working on the next chapter. That confirmation, however, was only to be retracted by North himself when he apologized for confirming "The Last of Us 2" without having any knowledge regarding the supposed game sequel.

North said that he is only a voice actor who does not have direct participation in the game's development and the things he stated earlier were just "from a fan's point of view." These latest statements from North came during an interview with MoviePilot.

"I went back and I watched it and I did say what I said. But I said it from the idea of like any fan. In my head, 'a game that makes that much money, is that critically acclaimed, they would probably do that.' But I didn't say 'probably.' To this day, I have no knowledge of it because I don't work at Naughty Dog." 

This retraction made by North may be valid because after all, his character in "The Last of Us" was killed at the end of the story. He played the role of David, the leader of a cannibal group who was going after the lead characters of the game, Ellie (played by Ashley Johnson) and Joel (played by Troy Baker). David was killed by Ellie when he tried to harm her.

It will not be surprising if Naughty Dog decided to continue "The Last of Us" given the big success of the game. The chance of having "The Last of Us 2" seemed bleak in the past few months because Naughty Dog was busy setting up their other big project, "Uncharted 4," which is scheduled for a worldwide release on May 10. However, there is no stopping Naughty Dog to make "The Last of Us 2" a reality, even if it takes another year or two for it to happen.

In an interview with the Official PlayStation Magazine via MoviePilot,  Naught Dog Creative Director Neil Druckmann revealed that there is indeed a plan for  "The Last of Us 2."

"The answer is - and this is totally honest, and I've said this in the past - that when Bruce (Straley) and I moved over to Uncharted 4, we were brainstorming ideas for The Last Of Us 2 with new characters; ideas for TLOU 2 with Joel and Ellie; ideas for a sci-fi game; ideas for a fantasy game, and building prototypes for each one of those ideas," Druckmann said when asked about the second TLOU game.