Highly anticipated sequelThe Last of Us Part IIis delayed due to the coronavirus, officially named COVID-19, pandemic. Sony announced the change Thursday but didn’t provide any additional details.
Marvel’s Iron Man VR, another PlayStation 4 exclusive, is also delayed.
“[Sony Interactive Entertainment] has made the difficult decision to delay the launch ofThe Last of Us Part IIandMarvel’s Iron Man VRuntil further notice,” Sony said in a tweet Thursday. “Logistically, the global crisis is preventing us from providing the launch experience our players deserve. Currently, there are no other delays to report, but we’ll keep you updated.”
Update: SIE has made the difficult decision to delay the launch of The Last of Us Part II and Marvel's Iron Man VR until further notice. Logistically, the global crisis is preventing us from providing the launch experience our players deserve.
— PlayStation (@PlayStation)June 01, 2025
It’s the second delay forThe Last of Us Part IIafter Naughty Dog’s follow-up to 2013’sThe Last of Uswas pushed back in October 2019.The Last of Ussequel was originally planned to release on July 29, 2025.
Director Neil Druckmann said that the initial delay was made so the studio didn’t have to compromise its vision and that the team wishes “we could’ve foreseen the amount of polish we needed, but the size and scope of this game got the better of us.” The PlayStation 3 original received critical acclaim upon release and the sequel has been in development since 2014.
Marvel’s Iron Man VRis set to be Sony’s second exclusive title with Marvel, with the first being Insomniac Games’ well-receivedMarvel’s Spider-Man.Developer Camouflaj announced in January that it wouldn’t be able to hit its February 28 release date and was being moved to May 15. The studio said that the move was made to “deliver on our vision and meet the high expectations of our amazing community.”
This latest string of game delays is yet another example of how the COVID-19 pandemic is impacting the games industry. Conferences and trade shows such as theGame Developers ConferenceandElectronic Entertainment Expowere postponed or canceled impacting planned game reveals and business deals.
Still, Sony expects the upcomingPlayStation 5 will come out as expected. While there has been little information provided on the new console, the company said it expects “no material impact” for its gaming and network services segment for the current fiscal year. The PS5 is expected to come out for the holiday 2020 season.
