If you’re still worrying The Last of Us 2 might be delayed yet again, now is the time to stop. Take a deep breath and exhale. You WILL be playing that game on June 19.
The game is finished. Or, to use the gaming terminology, has “gone Gold” according to the good folks at Naughty Dog, who’ve been slaving over the sequel for years.
That means the discs can now be pressed and the digital copy will soon be winging its way to the PlayStation store ahead of the release date next month.
In an impromptu announcement on YouTube on Monday, director Neil Druckmann confirmed the landmark, in lieu of the traditional office party to commemorate the completion of game.
In the video clip, which you can see below, Druckmann said: “We wanted to let you know that we have gone gold. So back in April, we told you that due to the state of the world, logistics way beyond our control, we had to push the game, which gave us a few extra weeks to polish and now that we have a release date we submitted our gold master.”
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“And you’re going to have our game in just a few short weeks. Normally this would be a moment of celebration. We’d be at the office having a drink, eating cake. But we’re all stuck in our homes and I want to take this moment to congratulate the team that has pulled off the most ambitious game we’ve ever made.”
The director said he just completed a playthrough of the game (probably for the millionth time) and cried at the end, so we’re probably in store for quite the epic narrative when the game finally drops.
Druckmann made no reference to the theft of the IP which led to gameplay and cut scenes being leaked last week. Sony has said it has identified the culprits and is conducting an investigation.
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Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.