New information about delaying the multiplayer TLOU title and would be working on it alongside a "brand new single-player experience," which may or may not be The Last of Us Part 3.

The Last Of Us Part 3 Will Introduce Five New Characters

A group of survivors look out of a cabin at a snowy environment in The Last of Us' Factions reveal trailer

Although the game has yet to be officially announced by Naughty Dog, some recent leaks have reported that the game is due to start "filming" - or more likely performance capture - soon. Leaker DanielRPK revealed some information about a casting call for the game (which was shared by Resetera boltz for those who aren't patrons of DanielRPK to see), which gave an insight as to whom five of the title's key characters are.

According to this leak, a part of the plot will be about a group of scavengers living on the outskirts of the city, crammed into a Victorian house that is being used as a base, which feels very in keeping with some of the other set pieces in the series so far. Three of the five new characters in this group seem to be involved in a conflict over how the group should be run, with Val being the current leader of the group, and a character called Ezra aiming to take control of the group from her. There is also Mason, a former soldier whose loyalties will be tested by this conflict between Val and Ezra.

Two other characters who haven't been directly linked to this power struggle are Lucas, an affable man who "develops a relationship with another young scavenger and will have a turn that shows his dark side," and Gracie, who there are no details for other than the fact she is a female between 18 and 25.

TLOU 3 Looks To Continue Ellie's Journey, But Potentially Not Abby's

The Last Of Us Part 2's two protagonists, Ellie and Abby in a forest

The main constant of The Last of Us' games so far has been the character of Ellie, and while the announcement of new characters and their storyline may seem like enough to sustain a game's narrative on its own, a fellow leaker ViewerAnon took to Twitter to reveal that Ellie's journey would be continuing in The Last of Us Part 3, with the character currently expected to be "at least as important in LAST OF US PART III as she was in PART II." It's worth noting, however, that ViewerAnon pointed out that it's still early in the game's development, and "everything is potentially up in the air to be changed."

If Ellie's role is as big in The Last of Us Part 3 as it was in its predecessor, this suggests that the narrative will once again be divided between her story and another group's. This was the case in The Last of Us Part 2, which split its attention between two tales of obsession and revenge, that of Ellie's as she avenged her father figure and the game's first protagonist, Joel, after his brutal murder, and the story of Joel's killer Abby, who was avenging her father, a doctor who died at the hands of Joel during the hospital massacre finale of the first game.

Despite Ellie still being the main character of The Last of Us Part 2, spending half of the game with the likes of Abby, Lev, and their group turned the series into partially being their story. Therefore, it seems like an odd choice that this group isn't mentioned at all as part of the leaks for the title as their stories are now so intertwined with Ellie's. With Ellie choosing to break the cycle of revenge at the end of the last game and spare Abby, and the two choosing to go their separate ways and keep their distance from each other, it's possible the lack of Abby and her allies feels natural, but there were still several repercussions from their conflict left for Ellie's journey to explore, such as reconciling with Dina, helping Tommy grieve for his brother Joel, and grappling with the decision to let Abby and Lev live.

It's unclear how the five new characters will intertwine with Ellie's story, but their rumored storyline seems substantial enough that it could raise concerns that it won't leave a lot of room for The Last of Us Part 3 to fully focus on the aftermath of Ellie's actions in The Last of Us Part 2. Earlier this year, the franchise's creator Neil Druckmann stated that Naughty Dog was open to developing a new title in the series after claiming that the studio had a story outline penned as far back as 2021, but only if it "can come up with a compelling story that has this universal message and statement about love", so players will have to wait for more official information to see how this unfolds with the scavenger group in Ellie's next chapter.

Sources: boltz/Resetera, ViewerAnon/Twitter