Believe it or not, it's been over three years since The Last of Us Part II was released for the PlayStation 4. We've embarked on a whole new console generation since then and, if the word of the game's composer is anything to go by, The Last of Us Part II will be following suit.
In the time since the sequel was released, The Last of Us has been adapted into an acclaimed television series and rumours of The Last of Us Part III have circulated. Game director Neil Druckmann denied these rumours but promised Naughty Dog does have "lots of cool stuff" coming down the pipeline. Taking Druckmann at his word, we could only assume that they're hard at work on developing the 'Factions' multiplayer The Last of Us game that was promised even before The Last of Us Part II was released.
Recently, though, the composer for the franchise, Gustavo Santaolalla, participated in a Spanish interview in which he seemed to suggest that some sort of re-release of The Last of Us Part II is in the works. While Santaolalla had a cute cameo appearance in The Last of Us Part II as is, according to him, there exists a new version of the game in which the player is able to approach him and request specific songs. Santaolalla subsequently cut himself off and admitted that he's not allowed to say anymore.
We can only assume that this is a full-on remaster of The Last of Us Part II for the PlayStation 5, much in the same way that The Last of Us was remastered for the PlayStation 4 and recently even the PlayStation 5. While we're sure a remastered version of The Last of Us Part II will be updated graphically despite the visuals already being pristine, this new and improved version of The Last of Us Part II may well also include the aforementioned 'Factions' multiplayer mode.
However, there's also a chance that the “new version” Santaolalla is talking about is actually a third instalment in the game series after all. We'll just have to wait and see. Stay tuned for further developments