The Last Of Us Part 2 Won't Shy Away From Politics

Can a developer separate his or her political views from the game that he or she is making? According to Neil Druckmann, Naughty Dog creative director and writer of The Last of Us and Uncharted 4: A Thief's End, the answer is an emphatic "No."

Druckmann's statement comes as part of a Twitter exchange in which a fan objected to The Last of Us' ending and asked Druckmann to "keep [his] personal politics out of Part 2." While the fan's tweet has been deleted (although it lives on as a screengrab, because this is the Internet), Druckmann's reply remains.

"No can do," Druckmann said. "Writers work off of their views of the world. For example, the ending of TLoU is very much inspired by my 'personal politics.'"

While it's not clear from the original tweet which "politics" the fan was referring to—The Last of Us tackles a number of complicated moral and political issues—chances are that he's talking about the depiction of minorities and other marginalized groups in Druckmann's games. In a spin-off discussion, the same fan identifies "race, gender, and orientation" as the issues that he's concerned about, and calls out Uncharted 4's Nadine, a black woman, as an example of Druckmann's politics informing his writing.

The Last of Us: Left Behind, a prequel story released as downloadable content a few months after The Last of Us , reveals that Ellie, one of The Last of Us' two main protagonists, is gay. The Last of Us: Left Behind received critical acclaim—not to mention a few awards—for its deft and realistic portrayal of a same-sex relationship. Given that Ellie will be The Last of Us Part 2's main character, it's possible that the obstacles facing the LGBTQ community will play a major role in The Last of Us Part 2's story.

According to the official PlayStation blog, The Last of Us Part 2 is due sometime this year. A movie adaptation of the first game is currently stuck in limbo, which, all things considered, might be for the best.