The first details of The Last of Us: Part III have leaked

There's been a frustrating ambivalence and ambiguity in Naughty Dog's way of talking about The Last of Us: Part III with fans. First, the studio confirmed that the game is, of course, in development, only to declare as recently as last month that there's a chance it might never happen. Of course, given the huge success of both games and the HBO adaptation, there is extremely little chance that there would never be a third, and now industry insider Daniel Richtman has sniffed out the first information regarding the story and characters. Apparently, part three will be about a new group of characters living in a different part of the US, crammed into an old Victorian mansion, doing their best to survive the current zombie apocalypse. This, of course, will inevitably tie in with the story of Ellie being left alone in that house in the strangely beautiful, sad ending of the second game.

"Part of the plot will be about a group of scavengers surviving on the outskirts of a post-apocalyptic city, crammed into a Victorian house that serves as their base."

Druckmann & Co have apparently been working on these new characters, with Val rumoured to be the new protagonist.

• Val - Female, leader of the group.
• Ezra - Male, ambitious and wants to take control from Val.
• Mason - Male, a former soldier torn between loyalty to Ezra and protecting the house.
• Lucas - Male, charming but has a dark side that emerges as he grows closer to another scavenger.
• Gracie - Female, 18-25 (no additional details yet).

How does this sound to you?