While The Last of Us' opening cutscene first hit us right in the feels all the way back in 2013, the origins of the game stretch back much, much further. Revealed by Neil Druckmann, the director behind The Last of Us and its sequel, the hit game was first conceptualised back in 2003.
Druckmann found some old sketches and posted them on his Instagram page, showing a very early look at the characters who would become Joel and Ellie. In the first sketch, they both look a lot younger, with Joel seeming like he's in his early 20s or even late teens. The second sketch perhaps represents a better look at the characters we'd see and play as later on, but there are still a lot of differences that are easy to spot.
"Cleaning out the garage today and stumbled on my original sketches from 2003 for a game pitch about a man, his surrogate daughter, and a trek across a broken America. Been a wild journey. Grateful for every part of it, especially the few stops that remain on the road ahead," Druckmann wrote on Instagram.
That part about the "road ahead" has fans believing Druckmann is all but confirming more projects on the way for The Last of Us. It's believed that there will be an end to Ellie's story in The Last of Us: Part III one day, but if there is, it'll have to come out after Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet, Naughty Dog's upcoming game.