Naughty Dog has officially announced that it has delayed The Last of Us Part II. Surprisingly, the game has moved from its original February 21st, 2020 launch to May 29th, 2020. This has surely shocked most, if not all, of the gaming community. After all, we had had just received an official date for the game, only for it to change weeks later.
The Last of Us Part II has a new release date. Here’s a letter to our fans.
Apologies for the delay. Please know we’re working very hard to make it worthwhile. https://t.co/iJyhXpuUoa
October 24, 2019
In a letter to the fans, Game Director Neil Druckmann addressed the reasoning for the delay. Specifically, Druckmann stated the following:
I know. It was just about a month ago when we had our big blowout for the game, letting media play over two hours of it along with debuting our new story trailer and revealing the release date. The positive response we saw from our community was overwhelming. You can feel the energy among the team members. After working on something for so many years, it’s invigorating to get a glimpse of validation for all the hard work.
However, it was during the last few weeks, as we were closing out sections of the game, that we realized we simply didn’t have enough time to bring the entire game up to a level of polish we would call Naughty Dog quality. At this point we were faced with two options: compromise parts of the game or get more time. We went with the latter, and this new release date allows us to finish everything to our level of satisfaction while also reducing stress on the team.
Druckmann then goes on to apologize and express his regret for the release date change. You can read the entire statement here. Of course, any delay causes disappointment, but hopefully this gives Naughty Dog time it to provide the best experience possible.
How do you feel about this delay? Let us know in the comments below! For more news updates, check out our articles on online PvP battles coming to Pokémon Go and the new Shadowfall mode in Apex Legends. Otherwise, keep it on Culture of Gaming for all things gaming!
