Earlier this year, fans anticipating Naughty Dog’s upcoming third-person action blockbusterThe Last of Us 2were thrown into panic when major spoilers for the game’s narrative leaked online in the form of story treatments and, most damning of all, cutscenes taken from the game itself. All of this while the PlayStation 4 exclusive had been delayed indefinitely due to COVID-19 effecting its development. Now, just over one week on from its new June 19th release date, the game’s director, Neil Druckmann, has implied that some of the spoilers circulating online may be falsified.
The Last of Us 2was subject to major story leaks earlier this year when hackers managed to gain access to some of Naughty Dog’s private servers by accessing the servers of some of its previous titles, according to Sony. As the leaks began to appear online, many had speculated that the leaks stemmed from a frustrated Naughty Dog employee, giventhe recent allegations of poor working conditionsapproaching the end ofThe Last of Us 2’s development. However, it was later revealed to be the work of hackers.
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Speaking to Eurogamer, Neil Druckmanncommented on the leaks, stating “There’s a lot of the feedback that came out, our take on it is, you don’t know. Right? There’s so many false things out there,” he continued “We don’t want to go out there and correct anything because that would be spoiling the game in a way - by saying what it isn’t, we’re kind of saying what it is.” Contrary to many of the leaks, Neil went out of his way to definitively claim “There’s all these theories about what the ending is but the ending is not out there. You actually don’t know how it all comes together.”
Neil also briefly mentioned the spoilers that circulated around the releases ofThe Last of UsandUncharted 4: A Thief’s End, stating they “didn’t take away from anything at the end, because nothing compares to playing it.” He also reiterated his stance thatThe Last of Us 2is the most ambitious game Naughty Dog has ever made and that he believes the game will deliver an excellent story, even if fans have been spoiled.
Speaking of the game’s protagonist, Ellie, andher growth since the first game, Druckmann stated “We made a journey with Ellie, and Ellie is who she is. It’s been defined in the previous game. We’re going to continue going forward. She’s now 19. How do we explore all the facets of what it’s like to be 19? You think you’re invincible. You think you know what’s right and wrong in the world. You are sexually attracted to people you’re attracted to. Those are all things we want to explore for this character - that’s how we do honest storytelling.”
The Last of Us Part 2releases on July 19th 2020, exclusively on PlayStation 4.
