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Naughty Dog is taking a time out from brainstorming a possible sequel to The Last of Us as the team continues work on PlayStation 4 exclusive Uncharted 4: A Thief's End, Naughty Dog's Bruce Straley told Game Informer (as reported by GameSpot).
According to Straley, who is currently sharing directing duties with developer Neil Druckmann on the Uncharted release, the possibility for a sequel to the critically acclaimed The Last of Us is still "all a big if."
"We're 110 per cent in Uncharted 4 territory now," Straley said of the team's current project, which is scheduled to arrive later this year. "Blinders on, make this awesome."
When asked about the demand for a The Last of Us sequel, he added: "We totally get it, because we have those same feelings as well. We have brainstormed sequel ideas for The Last of Us, and we've brainstormed ideas for new games, but all of that is put on ice right now while we work on Uncharted 4."
According to Druckmann, it's still a " big assumption" to believe Naughty Dog will ever make a sequel to the game; However, if it were to happen, Druckmann "would not be OK with" seeing the game made without him.
Last year, Druckmann said in a Reddit AMA there would be a 50 percent chance The Last of Us will not be the end to the series.
At the time, Druckmann responded to a comment asking the likelihood of gamers returning to the world of The Last of Us in the future. "If you're asking about a sequel ... right now I'd say it's 50/50."
While Druckmann didn't specify what will be required of the studio before a sequel is considered, he later commented that a new release featuring protagonists Joel and Ellie will only be made is it "doesn't repeat what we've done, but somehow builds on the original."