The Last of Us Part II is “nearly done.” So why is it being delayed?

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  Stay six feet away, Ellie

Sony and Naughty Dog have decided to delay The Last of Us: Part II "until further notice" just weeks before a previously planned May 29 rollout. But in what may be an industry first, those companies say the cause of the delay isn't a need for more development time. Instead, it's because of what Sony calls a "global crisis... preventing us from providing the launch experience our players deserve."

Games are delayed all the time, even shortly before their planned launch, in order to give developers more time to polish up their work. But Naughty Dog says that it is "nearly done with development" of The Last of Us Part II and "in the midst of fixing our final bugs." An unnamed Naughty Dog developer also told Kotaku that the game is "nearly done and ready to go."

The problem, it seems, is in getting that nearly complete game to potential players in a safe and efficient way. "Even with us finishing the game, we were faced with the reality that due to logistics beyond our control, we couldn't launch The Last of Us Part II to our satisfaction," Naughty Dog wrote in a tweet. "We want to make sure everyone plays The Last of Us Part II around the same time, ensuring that we're doing everything possible to preserve the best experience for everyone. This means delaying the game until such a time where we can solve these logistic issues."

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