“Be wary of insider info,” warns Neil Druckmann in response to recent The Last of Us Part III rumors

Gaming has been rife with rumors for generations, with outlets scooping up any bit of information available for upcoming releases. When word began to circulate in the final weeks of 2022 that Naughty Dog was already at work on The Last of Us Part III, it seemed like an obvious story to run with. After all, the first two entries were hugely successful, and there was already a live-action television series in the works based on the games, so it makes sense that the developer would want to do more with the setting.

Excited fans may have had their hopes dampened slightly, however. Naughty Dog co-president Neil Druckmann seemed to address the rumors surrounding future games by the studio in a New Year’s Day tweet. Along with the usual platitudes around looking forward to what the next twelve months have to offer, he warned fans to be “wary of insider info” because “much of it is false.”

Happy New Year, peeps! As always, thank you so much for the incredible support. We got lots of cool stuff coming next year that we can't wait to share with y'all! (P.S. be wary of "insider" info. Much of it is false.) pic.twitter.com/QSYTqiybmv

— Neil Druckmann (@Neil_Druckmann) January 1, 2023

While this is generally good advice for anyone reading news on the internet, it was almost certainly directed at recent tweets from Twitter user ViewerAnon, who has posted accurate movie and gaming leaks in the past. The tweets in question claimed that The Last of Us Part III was currently in development and would be the next game Druckmann would helm as director. As part of the same thread, ViewerAnon claimed that the next Uncharted game would be developed by a different studio, though they didn’t give further details.

https://twitter.com/ViewerAnon/status/1602812234815574016

Neil Druckmann didn’t mention these rumors specifically in his tweet, but the timing makes it likely that he is trying to manage players’ expectations about his future projects. While The Last of Us Part III may come out in the coming years, there is no reason to think it is currently in development until we hear official word from Naughty Dog. For now, fans will have the upcoming HBO show to satisfy their need for more The Last of Us action, which is due to release on January 23.