The Last of Us Delay Gets Detailed by Naughty Dog

Naughty Dog, the developer behind the recently delayed The Last of Us survival game, has posted a statement concerning the title and how its massive scope required more polishing time in order to ensure a great experience.

The Last of Us is one of the most anticipated PlayStation 3 releases of the year, as Naughty Dog, the same developer behind the popular Uncharted series, promises to deliver a great-looking survival experience that emphasizes cooperation between the main protagonist, Joel, and his various AI-controlled partners, like Ellie or Tess.

While the game was initially set to appear on May 7, the studio revealed yesterday that the title has been pushed back to June 14.

Naughty Dog's Creative Director, Neil Druckmann has posted a statement on the PS blog explaining how the decision was made.

"The Last of Us is an ambitious project. In many ways it may be Naughty Dog’s most ambitious project to date – brand new universe and cast of characters, brand new tech, brand new genre, not to mention it’s easily the longest campaign Naughty Dog has ever made," he said.

"As a team we pride ourselves on setting a very high quality bar for every aspect of our games - gameplay, story, art, design, technology and more. We want to make sure The Last of Us raises that bar even further - for ourselves, and most importantly, our fans."

In order to meet these expectations, the studio decided that an extra month of polishing was needed in order to prevent disappointing fans.

"As we entered the final phase of development for The Last of Us, we came to realise just how massive Joel and Ellie’s journey is. But instead of cutting corners or compromising our vision, we came to the tough decision that the game deserved a few extra weeks to ensure every detail of The Last of Us was up to Naughty Dog’s internal high standards."

As such, until June 14, the studio will work hard on finishing and polishing the game in order to delight all of its fans.