The Last of Us Part II has a new release date. Here's a letter to our fans.



Apologies for the delay. Please know we're working very hard to make it worthwhile. https://t.co/iJyhXpuUoa — Neil Druckmann (@Neil_Druckmann) October 24, 2019

Given all the hype around last month's event, it's a little surprising that Sony or Naughty Dog have already decided to turn around and put the brakes on the launch. That said, delays like this aren't uncommon whatsoever in the industry. Indeed, Naughty Dog's own Uncharted 4: A Thief's End was pushed back multiple times before it arrived in May of 2016.

Probably in large part because of those multiple delays, Naughty Dog was much quieter about work on The Last of Us Part II -- prior to the release date announcement and trailer last month, Naughty Dog hadn't shown anything new about the game since E3 2018. According to the game's director Neil Druckmann, "...as we were closing out sections of the game, that we realized we simply didn't have enough time to bring the entire game up to a level of polish we would call Naughty Dog quality. At this point we were faced with two options: compromise parts of the game or get more time. We went with the latter, and this new release date allows us to finish everything to our level of satisfaction while also reducing stress on the team."

Update, 12:05PM ET: Sony and Naughty Dog have confirmed The Last of Us Part II will now launch on May 29th, 2020.