'The Last of Us 2' release date, spoilers, news: release still far off; next edition to be sci-fi and fantasy game?

A promotional image for "The Last of Us"Naughty Dog

"The Last of Us 2" is not expected to arrive soon as its release relies on the launch of the single-player downloadable content (DLC) for "Uncharted 4: A Thief's End."

Naughty Dog creative director Neil Druckmann said early this year to GamesRadar that they will begin work on the highly-anticipated sequel after they complete the said DLC.

Back in June, Naughty Dog community strategist Arne Meyer revealed to GamesRadar that it will take time before the said expansion will be out and that the developer will be consumed with the project.

"It will be a while before we have any new info. We didn't even start working on single-player DLC until after the game launched," Meyer explained.

"So as you can imagine there will be some time for us to work on it. But we'll reveal it as soon as we're able to give you more info," he went on to say.

There are rumors that the DLC will be released by the end of the year, which would mean that Naughty Dog should be transitioning to the development of "The Last of Us 2."

These reports remain unfounded, though, especially with the studio mum about it. This had many media outlets believing that the "The Last of Us" sequel will not be released next year.

Digital Spy surmises that a June 2018 launch for the game is likely. If this is the case, fans will not hear about "The Last of Us 2" anytime soon.

As for the story and the gameplay, Druckmann has said before that they brainstormed how it would look like, with Joel and Ellie and with new characters.

He also said that he and game director Bruce Straley also thought about making "The Last of Us 2" a science fiction or a fantasy game.

As for the platforms where the sequel will be released on, it is expected to remain a PlayStation 4 exclusive, although the game will likely make use of the power of the PS4 Pro as well.