UPDATE: Naughty Dog has confirmed that the new release date for The Last of Us 2 is May 29, 2020. Original story follows.
The Last of Us Part II is easily one of the most highly-anticipated games of 2020. The massive Naughty Dog sequel was teased a few years back at E3 and its hard to believe that its finally just a few months away. After an exciting release date reveal event earlier this fall, new sources are suggesting the February 21 release date was too ambitious and the title is being delayed to Spring 2020.
Naughty Dog is definitely not a company known to rush an unfinished product out the door, so it would make sense for the company to keep The Last of Us 2 in development until it is fully polished and ready for the public. That said, delaying the game so soon after a big release date reveal event seems very strange. Despite the weird circumstances, that's what sources close to the game are saying is about to happen.
The report comes from Kotaku, who claim to have spoken to two people familiar with the behind-the-scenes are Naughty Dog. The report goes on to claim that an official announcement will arrive later this week that TLOU2 is delayed to spring 2020.
"The PS4 sequel to The Last of Us will no longer be out in February, sources tell Kotaku. Publisher Sony has delayed The Last Of Us Part II to this spring, just a month after announcing a release date of February 21, 2020... The news isn’t official yet, and Sony didn’t respond to a request for comment yesterday, but Kotaku has heard from two people familiar with goings-on at Naughty Dog that the game is bumped to spring. We expect an announcement this week."
Gamers won't be lacking exciting titles in late winter 2020, but the absence of The Last of us too would still be sure to be noticeable. The title is yet another reason why so many gamers have decided to purchase a PS4 this console generation and it is sure to be one of the best-selling games of early 2020 when it finally does arrive. Just keep in mind that we are still in rumor territory at this point and Naughty Dog and Sony have not confirmed any of these claims.
Be sure to check back in the near future for updates an more Last of Us news. Until then, keep your fingers crossed that this rumor ends up being untrue.
As of now, The Last of Us 2 is still officially set to release on February 21, 2020, exclusively on the PlayStation 4.
Source: Kotaku