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The Last of Us Part II has been in some form of development on PS4 since 2014. In other words, it's been cooking for awhile. Why? Because the PlayStation 4 exclusive is Naughty Dog's biggest, longest, and most ambitious game yet. So, put simply, the studio needed more time to bring their grand vision for a sequel to reality. And given that the first game sold 17 million copies, and is widely considered one of the best games of all-time, it seems Sony is fine with letting the prestigious studio take its time. That said, according to the game's creative director, Neil Druckmann, the plan wasn't to make the game the biggest its ever done. This just happened naturally.

“We didn’t set out to make the biggest game we’ve ever done, we set out to tell this really ambitious story that became the biggest game we’ve ever done," said Druckmann while speaking to IGN. "And that’s why we took as long as we have."

Druckmann continued:

“The story we laid out four years ago is really complex, has a large cast of characters. The core of it is simple, but where it goes and the twist and turns are complex. We needed more time for cinematics, we needed more locations, we needed more types of enemies. So the scope of it kept growing.”

Druckmann added that while the game is bigger than anything the team has ever done before, it's not padded. In fact, he insists it still has the same pacing as the first game.

"You’re going on this crazy, emotional, harrowing roller coaster ride that has these highs of tension and these slower, more provocative, thoughtful moments...those kind of events are sprinkled throughout the entire game," said Druckmann.

The Last of Us Part II is in development for the PS4. Barring any delay, it will release worldwide on February 21, 2020, which is a Friday. In other words, get ready to call out sick that day and give the game the good ol' three day weekend treatment.

For more news, media, and information on the highly-anticipated sequel, be sure to check out all of past and recent coverage of the game by clicking right here.