'The Last Of Us 2' release date news update: Sequel to come out in 2021?

More than three years after "The Last Of Us," the critically acclaimed survival horror video game, was released, the future of its sequel remains uncertain.

Based on comments from a voice actor and a director on "The Last Of Us," the sequel was already in development more than a year ago. However, after its director was asked to work on a different project, not much else was heard about the potential "The Last Of Us 2," even after "Uncharted 4," developer Naughty Dog's other main project, was released.

In 2015, Nolan North, who was the voice behind David, a character in "The Last Of Us," said that he was certain that a sequel was being made but that he would not be participating in it.

"For now, the last one, I know they're doing 'The Last Of Us 2' but my character met an untimely demise," North said during an appearance at Metrocon last year.

Not long after, Naughty Dog creative director Neil Druckmann responded to North's statement, saying, "I can say that was kind of a surprise for us for him to say that."

"I was like 'Oh he knows more than we know [about] what we're doing next.' We joked about it afterwards during shoots and stuff," he told the Official PlayStation Magazine UK.

According to Druckmann, he and "The Last Of Us" co-director Bruce Straley had been brainstorming ideas for the sequel. Their plans for "The Last Of Us 2" reportedly included one that had "The Last Of Us" protagonists Joel and Ellie, one that was a sci-fi game, and one that was a fantasy game. Druckmann said they had been building prototypes for each of their ideas but these plans were halted when their attention shifted to "Uncharted 4."

"And just as we were getting close to settling or narrowing that list down, we were asked to work on 'Uncharted 4,'" he explained. "Uncharted 4: A Thief's End" came out in May this year.

While it would seem that Druckmann and Straley should now be free to work on "The Last Of Us 2," there have been no official updates about the possible sequel.

Nonetheless, Digital Spy noted that the game could be released in June 2018, which would be exactly five years since "The Last Of Us" came out. The outlet is also holding out hope for a reveal at the Electronic Entertainment Expo 2017 next June.

Meanwhile, a source suggested that because Naughty Dog will be busy working on the downloadable content for "Uncharted 4," "The Last Of Us 2" will probably be revealed in 2018 and dropped sometime in 2021.