There’s a lot of praise to pass around the Naughty Dog table in terms of any IP or endeavors it has going on. The Last of Us now needs no introduction as a franchise, for example, whether someone has been a fan since 2013 or if they only initially heard of the series through its HBO adaptation. The IP itself has become incredibly successful all around, and the celebratory The Last of Us Day is a perennial reminder of how cemented that popularity is. Naughty Dog doesn’t typically reserve huge announcements for this annual event, but there’s even more reason not to expect anything from it this September.

If anything, The Last of Us Day is more intentionally meant to celebrate the franchise’s community. This usually involves some sort of merchandise launch or another sort of simple memorabilia drop, such as a digital wallpaper available for download. Last year’s most substantial piece of content offered was the seconds-long teaser trailer for The Last of Us’ show, as well as the original game’s soundtrack on vinyl. On this September 26th, though, fans have even less reason to anticipate anything relating to future game projects in the works from The Last of Us due to how ambiguous those developments seem.

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Naughty Dog Might Have Nothing of Substance to Share This September

Now that The Last of Us Day has addressed the HBO show, fans could easily predict that The Last of Us Day 2023 might be where more news might be shared about its second season. However, because of the strikes, that is almost guaranteed not to happen. It’s been hinted at slyly that Abby may already be cast for The Last of Us’ second season, but again that news would probably be withheld until a more appropriate time, catching The Last of Us Day at an inopportune moment.

As far as upcoming games go, Naughty Dog seems to be trudging through rather deep mud lately. If a third entry of The Last of Us is indeed in development, for instance, its first announcement or confirmation would likely not be at a niche community celebration considering how wide of an audience it would want to net for that excitement.

Moreover, The Last of Us’ spin-off multiplayer game is seemingly closer to releasing since it’s actually confirmed and has been in development for a while, but its development has apparently been rocky lately with reassessments needed. Only a couple pieces of concept art were released for it as well, and not any gameplay or official content, which could be telling of how early in development it still is. Therefore, anything relating to it appearing at The Last of Us Day would be a massive surprise.

Instead, Naughty Dog might want to keep it completely under wraps until it knows precisely what its ambitions with the multiplayer spin-off are, and that’s fair. It is expected that Naughty Dog will have the same merch or memorabilia presented to fans on September 26, and it’s a relief that big announcements or reveals for games aren’t customary for The Last of Us Day anyway, but it is still disappointing that Naughty Dog’s current The Last of Us slate seems threadbare besides its HBO adaptation lately, even if these circumstances are all understandable.

Naughty Dog certainly doesn’t owe fans anything about its games regardless of whether it feels the need to provide sustenance on The Last of Us Day, and keeping quiet until it’s ready is a great way to manage expectations in the meantime. Still, this will hopefully all result in a ton of The Last of Us content hitting all at once when the second season, the multiplayer spin-off, and a potential third installment are all ready to have more shared.

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