What just happened? In a post on the official PlayStation blog, Druckmann said the game's new release date is May 29, 2020. Over the last few weeks as they were closing out sections of the game, he said, the team realized they simply didn't have enough time to put the proper polish on everything.
Developer Naughty Dog during Sony's State of Play livestream event last month announced that The Last of Us Part II would launch on February 21, 2020. The reveal was a bit of a blow to those holding out hope for a 2019 release but eh, at least we finally had a solid date to look forward to.
On Thursday, things went from bad to worse as game director Neil Druckmann confirmed rumors that The Last of Us Part II has been delayed.
Faced with the option of compromising parts of the game or allotting more time, Naughty Dog decided on the latter. "This new release date allows us to finish everything to our level of satisfaction while also reducing stress on the team," Druckmann noted.
The director apologized for the delay, adding that the size and scope of the game simply got the better of them.
If nothing else, that admission is promising as it confirms the title should have a healthy dose of depth. Then again, that was probably never in question to begin with considering how well received the first game was.