As Druckmann cautions against trusting “insider” information, The Last of Us Part 3 rumors appear shaky.

At the end of the previous month, rumors began to circulate that Neil Druckmann, the chief creative for Naughty Dog, would be going immediately onto The Last of Us Part 3 as his next project.

The information, which was obtained from a well-known source for providing accurate movie leaks but that seldom ventured into the field of video games, was received with various reactions from the gaming community. Although it’s easy to understand why some people were looking forward to more TLOU, it’s possible that others were hoping for a break from Druckmann’s dismal post-apocalyptic universe.

The reports that The Last of Us Part 3 would be released soon are starting to appear a little questionable. As part of his New Year’s speech, Neil Druckmann warned fans to exercise extreme caution with insiders because most of the information they provide is unreliable.

Even though Druckmann does not make a direct reference to TLOU3, given that this is the only major rumor circulating regarding Druckmann and Naughty Dog in recent times, there is a reasonable likelihood that this is what he is referring to.

Happy New Year, peeps! As always, thank you so much for the incredible support. We got lots of cool stuff coming next year that we can't wait to share with y'all! (P.S. be wary of "insider" info. Much of it is false.) pic.twitter.com/QSYTqiybmv

— Neil Druckmann (@Neil_Druckmann) January 1, 2023

For what it’s worth, Geoff Keighley also chimed in with the classic side-eye emoji.

Happy New Year, peeps! As always, thank you so much for the incredible support. We got lots of cool stuff coming next year that we can't wait to share with y'all! (P.S. be wary of "insider" info. Much of it is false.) pic.twitter.com/QSYTqiybmv

— Neil Druckmann (@Neil_Druckmann) January 1, 2023

Of course, it is possible that Druckmann is only trying to confuse the situation and that TLOU3 is, in fact, the next thing. Now, all we can do is wait and watch what happens. In 2020, when Naughty Dog was putting the finishing touches on TLOU2, Druckmann stated that he wasn’t sure if the next project for him would be a third installment in the series or a new intellectual property. What we know is that a writer’s room has already been established for what’s next and that the format of it may be more similar to that of a television show, consisting of a series of episodes.

And hey, Druckmann already has plenty of announced things to keep him busy, such as The Last of Us HBO series, which will premiere on January 15, and the new The Last of Us multiplayer project, which does not currently have a solid release window. Both of these projects are related to The Last of Us.

What are your thoughts? Are we going to see Druckmann in The Last of Us Part 3 straight away? Or are the developers at Naughty Dog going to experiment with something fresh?