We'll be seeing more of The Last of Us 2 before E3 2019, says industry insider

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More evidence lines up for an incoming PlayStation State of Play live stream, as new Last of Us 2 rumours surface

Credit: Naughty Dog

With Days Gone finally out of the way, the rest of Sony's 2019 schedule for PS4 exclusives is looking unusually barebones right now. Neither Death Stranding nor Ghost of Tsushima have confirmed release dates, but the most anticipated first-party title of them all - The Last of Us 2 - seems the most likely to be the one that arrives later this year. 

We've had store listings and tacit confirmation from the PlayStation Store itself that Naughty Dog's dystopian sequel is launching in 2019, and now a new hint from a games industry insider suggests we'll be hearing more about the title very, very soon. 

In a ResetEra thread discussing The Last of Us 2's potential release date, a user by the name of Aokiji - who accurately leaked the existence of Sony's State of Play internet show before it was announced earlier this year - said that "considering we’re getting an official TLOU2 update before E3 2019, [it] would be really weird if it wasn’t 2019 now wouldn’t it[?]."

The E3 2019 schedule kicks off as early as June 7, with the EA Play event, which means - according to this tease - we could be seeing new gameplay for The Last of Us 2 in less than a month. Interestingly, Hideo Kojima teased a new trailer for his next game, Death Stranding, just yesterday, suggesting we could be seeing another State of Play show at some point in May or early June. 

This would certainly be the best way for Sony to keep its player base happy despite its absence from E3, and the tech giant may even reveal more about its announced PS5 console, despite recently stating that the next-gen hardware won't be out till May 2020 at the earliest. 

Whether this hypothetical State of Play gives us a release date for either The Last of Us 2 or Death Stranding is anyone's guess, but their status as two of the most anticipated new games of 2019 and beyond makes this rumour all the more exciting. The ball is in your court, Naughty Dog. 

Sony won't be showing any upcoming PS4 games at E3 this year, but you can check out all the confirmed E3 2019 games by clicking the link, or watching the video below. 

Alex Avard
Alex Avard
Former Features Writer

Alex is a former Features Writer at GamesRadar+, which once made him responsible for gracing the internet with as many of my words as possible, including reviews, previews, interviews, and more. Lucky internet!