Development of The Last of Us Part II

Approximately 2,100 people developed The Last of Us Part II over more than five years, led by the 350-person team at Naughty Dog. Sony Interactive Entertainment published the action-adventure game in June 2020 for the PlayStation 4; a remastered version was released in January 2024 for the PlayStation 5, and in April 2025 for Windows. A sequel to the 2013 game The Last of Us, Part II's core development began after the 2014 release of The Last of Us Remastered. Neil Druckmann returned as creative director, co-writing the story with Halley Gross, while Anthony Newman and Kurt Margenau were chosen as game directors. Matthew Gallant was Remastered's game director.

After its announcement in 2016, the game was fervently promoted with press showings, cinematic trailers, and special editions. Its release date was subject to several delays, partly due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The development reportedly included a crunch schedule of 12-hour work days and was slowed by the enormous turnover of employees following the development of Uncharted 4: A Thief's End (2016), while the team was forced to operate via remote work arrangements in the final months due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Development costs for Part II totaled around US$220 million, making it one of the most expensive video games to develop.

For the story, Druckmann was inspired by his own experiences growing up in the West Bank, where violence was a frequent topic. Gross also took her own experience with post-traumatic stress disorder with the game's characters. Ashley Johnson and Troy Baker reprised their roles as Ellie and Joel, respectively, recording their motion and voice simultaneously. Ellie is one of two main playable characters in the game; the other, Abby, was portrayed by Laura Bailey. The change was inspired by a similar switch in the first game. The writers wanted to portray Abby's vulnerabilities, aware that players would likely initially dislike her but eventually empathize.

The developers pushed the technical capabilities of the PlayStation 4 for Part II, creating larger environments and adding more enemies than previously. The advancement of the game's artificial intelligence granted deeper connections with characters; some gameplay elements were similarly intended to create an emotional response from players. The game was originally planned as an open world game, but became more linear to better serve the narrative. The accessibility options were seen as an extension of those introduced in Uncharted 4, and the developers attended conferences and worked with advocates. Gustavo Santaolalla returned to compose and perform the score; Mac Quayle contributed additional combat music.

Approximately 2,169 developers across 14 studios worked on The Last of Us Part II. Story concepts were first conceived in late 2013, following the development and release of The Last of Us. Development began in 2014, soon after the release of The Last of Us Remastered. By August 2017, with the release of Uncharted: The Lost Legacy, the entire 350-person team at Naughty Dog had shifted to develop Part II. Neil Druckmann led development as creative director and writer, reprising his role from The Last of Us and Uncharted 4: A Thief's End (2016). Bruce Straley, game director on the original game, left Naughty Dog in 2017; Druckmann felt that the dynamic on Part II, the first game he co-directed without Straley, was different as a result.

Anthony Newman and Kurt Margenau were selected to be co-game directors for Part II, a first for Naughty Dog as the position was previously held by one person. Both were hired during the development of Uncharted 2: Among Thieves (2009); Newman was the melee combat designer for The Last of Us, and Margenau was game director on Uncharted: The Lost Legacy. Margenau and Newman oversaw and approved the gameplay elements, such as level design and mechanics. Co-lead game designers Emilia Schatz and Richard Cambier were also part of the creative leadership team, continuing their roles from the development of Uncharted 4.

Druckmann identified that, while Naughty Dog was granted the freedom to create any type of game, they were energized when presented the option to make a sequel to The Last of Us due to the importance of the characters, despite knowing it would divide some fans. The team subtitled the game as Part II because they viewed it as an extension of the first. Druckmann wanted Part II to be as effective a sequel as The Godfather Part II (1974) was to The Godfather (1972). As resources were shifted to improving the scale of the game, plans for multiplayer were canceled, shifted to a standalone game, The Last of Us Online, which was canceled in December 2023. Naughty Dog said Part II was the longest game they had made.

For the final months of development, the team shifted to remote work due to the COVID-19 pandemic, though they were given the option to do so prior to the mandatory stay-at-home order in California; the operations management department ensured the transition was smooth, as the studio housed technology such as development kits that were not accessible in home setups. Druckmann felt lucky that development was almost complete by the time the pandemic spread in the United States. Game development ceased by May 4, 2020, when it was submitted for manufacturing. According to documents from publisher Sony Interactive Entertainment, the 70-month development peaked at 200 full-time employees and cost around US$220 million, making it one of the most expensive video games to develop.