Naughty Dog just debuted a new trailer in a full-size reconstruction of a dance hall scene in the game, with an intimate performance by its two-time Oscar-winning composer, Gustavo Santaolalla. It’s June 2018 and E3, gaming’s most prestigious convention, is in full swing. They’d poured everything into making something worth the wait. They’d kept secrets from their friends and family.

All 350 developers had spent a significant portion of their lives making it. This is an unspeakable scenario in any situation but, so close to release, an indefinite delay was imposed the threat of not recouping untold millions of dollars of investment was too great. To add to that pressure, the Covid-19 pandemic will, in 12 months’ time, create a unique problem: having to finish development from home. “It is one of the best movies ever made,” he tells me, “and there’s something about trying to replicate that magic of that ‘ Part II’. It’s a sequel inspired by, even named after, Francis Ford Copolla’s The Godfather. A benchmark for diversity in blockbuster games, launching in the midst of a racial reckoning.

A game about an apocalyptic virus released during the most lethal pandemic in a century. Part II makes brave and shocking choices with some of gaming’s most loved characters and its release is timely. With the next game, Druckmann is attempting to better it. It won more than 200 Game Of The Year awards, sold more than 17 million copies and paved the way for more mature storytelling in video games.

Naughty dog the last of us part 3