The Last of Us Part 3 leaks point to new characters, Ellie's role
Abby Road.
New information on The Last of Us Part 3 reportedly leaked over the weekend, from two internet tipsters better known for their scoops on Marvel TV shows and movies.
While Naughty Dog itself is keeping its plans for the series close to its chest, leaker DanielRPK revealed that Part 3 will introduce five new characters - Lucas, Mason, Val, Ezra and Gracie.
These five are reportedly part of a group of "scavengers", who are said to be "surviving on the outskirts of a post apocalyptic city", and using a Victorian house as their base.
According to DanielRPK, Lucas is an "affable" character who "develops a relationship with another young scavenger and will have a turn to show his dark side". This younger scavenger could perhaps be Gracie, who is said to be between the ages of 18-25.
Mason, meanwhile, is a "former soldier" who must "choose between his loyalty" to other characters in the group when "Val gets put in charge" (with Val being the alleged leader of this group of survivors).
Finally, Ezra appears to be some sort of antagonist, with DanielRPK reporting that they want to "take over the house from Val".
As for returning characters, fellow leaker ViewerAnon stated that Ellie will be "at least as important" in Part 3 as she was in The Last of Us Part 2. There has been no word, as yet, on whether Abby and Lev will return for the next instalment of the series.
Additionally, tipster ViewerAnon has claimed that "major filming" for Part 3 will begin as soon as this year.
Back in 2021, Naughty Dog's Neil Druckmann stated the studio had a story outline for The Last of Us 3 penned, that he hoped "one day can see the light of day". However, at this time, nothing was in development.
Earlier this year, Druckmann reiterated that Naughty Dog is open to developing Part 3, but only if "[the team] can come up with a compelling story that has this universal message and statement about love", as it did with Parts 1 and 2.
"With The Last of Us, it's up to us whether we want to continue it or not... If we can't come up with something, we have a very strong ending with Part 2 and that will be the end," Druckmann said in January.
Eurogamer has asked Sony for further comment on these leaks.
Along with reports of Part 3, Naughty Dog is also developing a standalone The Last of Us multiplayer game.
While the studio promised we would hear more about its "ambitious" project sometime this year, in May it was revealed that Naughty Dog had "slowed down" development after Destiny maker Bungie - which has been individually assessing Sony's many "games as a service" projects since its was acquired last year - raised concerns about The Last of Us multiplayer's "ability to keep players engaged for a long period of time".