Last of Us 2 ‘delayed’ a month after date announcement, report claims

The Last of Us Part 2 has been delayed from its February 21, 2020 release date, just a month after the date was announced at a high profile press event, it’s claimed.

A report from Kotaku, which cites two people familiar with goings-on at Naughty Dog, states that the PS4 exclusive is now pushed back to “spring.”

Update: Sony has delayed The Last of Us Part 2’s release date by three months to May 29, 2020.

Original story continues: There’s no indication of why the date has been pushed back, but considering Sony Interactive Entertainment was silent for an entire year before it’s February date announcement, the reason is likely to be significant.

SIE did not respond to a request for comment.

Set five years after the events of the original game, The Last of Us Part II sees players take control of Ellie, who was a secondary playable character in The Last of Us and the star of the title’s Left Behind expansion.

Following a period of relative stability in the 19-year-old’s life, during which she’s forged meaningful new relationships, her world is shaken by a violent act that sparks a brutal revenge mission.

“We began working on this game over five years ago,” creative director Neil Druckmann wrote on the PlayStation Blog. “It’s hard to describe the immense pressure of following up the first game.”

He added: “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. Without spoiling too much, at the top of this post you can watch the brand-new trailer that we debuted earlier today on State of Play, which just scratches the surface of what the game has in store.”

In September SIE announced three special editions of The Last of Us Part II, including one $249.99 bundle which includes a backpack and a bracelet.

Naughty Dog also confirmed Last of Us 2 won’t feature a multiplayer mode, despite earlier suggestions it would.