Earlier this morning, Kotaku reported that sources told it that The Last of Us: Part II would be delayed from its February 2020 release date. Now, Sony and Naughty Dog have confirmed. The Last of Us: Part II’s new release date is May 29, 2020.
In a statement posted by Neil Druckmann, the game’s director, he eluded to the need for further polishing being the main reason for the delay.
However, it was during the last few weeks, 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.
While we’re relieved that we won’t have to compromise our vision, we’re disappointed that we weren’t able to avoid this exact situation. We wish we could’ve foreseen the amount of polish we needed, but the size and scope of this game got the better of us. We hate disappointing our fans and for that we’re sorry.
We’re absolutely in favor of giving The Last of Us: Part II the additional time it requires to ensure the highest quality we all expect. I’m glad to see that Sony and Naughty Dog aren’t afraid of pushing back timelines to ensure this happens. Perhaps this is why Sony exclusives, and Naughty Dog’s titles in particular, tend to be such critical successes.