'The Last of Us Part 2' Will Be Co-Written By 'Westworld' Writer; Original Co-Director Won't Be Returning

Naughty Dog officially announced “The Last of Us Part II,” the sequel to the 2013 PlayStation 3 worldwide hit. Over the past couple of days, some details about the game have already been announced, including the people involved in the game’s development and what it will be about.

It’s been confirmed that Bruce Straley, the co-director for the original game, won’t be returning for the sequel alongside Neil Druckmann. “Bruce recently decided to take some much deserved time off after shipping two critically acclaimed games in the last few years,” Sony told Kotaku. “He’s looking forward to returning to the studio soon and jumping back in on his next project.”

“The Last of Us 2” will be directed by Druckmann himself. Druckmann confirmed on Twitter Monday that the game will be co-written by Halley Gross. Gross is credited as writing a couple of episodes of HBO’s “Westworld” as well as serving as a story editor for episodes like “The Stray” and “Chestnut,” as pointed out by GameSpot.

Druckmann also teased fans by saying that the story of TLOU2 is going to be “intense.” He also previously stated that the story of the sequel will be complementary to the first game’s story, according to VG24/7.

Druckmann also spoke this past weekend during the PlayStation Experience, revealing that “The Last of Us 2” will be about “hate.” Druckmann said that the first game was about Joel’s love for Ellie, while the sequel will be about Ellie’s hate. The trailer that was released this past weekend shows that Ellie wants to “kill every last one of them,” which fans have speculated to be the Firefly militia group from the first game.

Druckman also confirmed at the PSX event that players will be controlling Ellie in the sequel instead of Joel. Some have speculated that Joel might function as Ellie’s support much like how Ellie functioned in the first game. Another detail that has been confirmed about “The Last of Us Part II” is that it will take place a few years after the first game, with Ellie already aged 19. The original composer for “The Last of Us,” Gustavo Santaolalla, will also be returning to make new music for the sequel.