'The Last of Us Part 3' is in the works, co-creator says, but it might be a decade before it's released

• "The Last of Us" co-creator Neal Druckmann said he has a "concept" for a third game.
• "The Last of Us Part 3" could be over a decade away, however.

The co-creator of "The Last of Us" said he's working on another sequel but you'll likely have to wait a decade or more to play it.

"The Last of Us," already popular among gamers, became a household name after HBO adapted the series last year.

The games and TV series follow the story of teenage Ellie and her adoptive father figure, Joel, as they traverse the zombie-ridden United States following a fungal apocalypse.

The show has earned Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey nominations at the Golden Globes and Emmy Awards. It also featured an award-winning performance from Nick Offerman, who stars alongside Murray Bartlett in the season's acclaimed third episode "Long, Long Time."

Naughty Dog, the studio that creates "The Last of Us" games, released a two-hour documentary exploring the creation of "The Last of Us Part II." In the documentary, co-creator Neal Druckmann said he has a "concept" for the next sequel.

"I do have that concept that to me is as exciting as 1, as exciting as 2, is its own thing, and yet has this throughline for all three," Druckmann said in the documentary. "So it does feel like there's probably one more chapter to this story."

Druckmann said he initially struggled to develop an idea for the third game after the first two followed themes of "unconditional love" and "pursuit of justice," respectively.

"It's always like, 'we would love another Last of Us, but if you guys feel you're passionate about something else, we'll support this other thing,'" Druckmann says in the film. "Very privileged position to be in. I never take that for granted. I've been just thinking about it, 'is there a concept there?'"

"The Last of US Part 3" is not likely to be released anytime in the next decade, though, according to Forbes. The first "Last of Us" game was released in 2013, while the second came out in 2020.

The second season of "The Last of Us" television series is expected to begin production this month and air sometime in 2025.