The Last Of Us Part 2 Is Naughty Dog's Longest Game

The Last of Us Part II finally has a release date: February 21, 2020. The game's director, Neil Druckmann, has revealed that it will be the longest game that Naughty Dog has ever made--though an exact number for how long it will take to complete has not been announced.

"We began working on this game over five years ago," Druckmann wrote in a PlayStation blog post. "It's hard to describe the immense pressure of following up the first game. We know how much you love this world and its characters--especially Ellie and Joel. Believe me, we’re fans as well. We love them. Which is why we spent years crafting a game that we feel will do them justice, telling a nuanced story that deals with the core question: how far would you go to exact justice against the people that hurt the ones you love? It's a highly emotional story with complex themes that befit the world of The Last of Us. What we realized pretty early on is that we were putting together Naughty Dog's most ambitious and longest game in our 35-year history. To tell this kind of story the game needed to be massive."

For the sake of comparison, both Uncharted 4: A Thief's End and The Last of Us run for about 15 hours. So The Last of Us Part II is longer than that, but whether that's closer to 16-20 hours or something much longer like 25-35 remains to be seen.

Druckmann concluded the post with the tease that The Last of Us fans can expect more in the next few days. "Inspired by the day the cordyceps fungus reached critical mass, every September 26 we celebrate The Last of Us community and we've got some exciting things planned," he wrote.

During the September State of Play, PlayStation released a brand-new trailer for The Last of Us Part II which revealed further story details and showcased more gameplay. The Last of Us Part II looks exceptionally violent, with emotional moments between well-written characters sprinkled in between the combat. The game will release exclusively on PS4. However, with rumored plans of a PS5 console already circulating, a next-gen port or remaster might not be off the table just yet.