Last week news broke that The Last of Us Part II was delayed "indefinitely" due to the current global crisis, alongside Marvel's Iron Man VR. In a follow-up post developer Naughty Dog alluded to development being complete, with the issue now being figuring out how to launch the highly anticipated game amid an actual outbreak.

But, the plot thickens. Overnight The Last of Us Part II was been removed from the PlayStation Store with Sony giving automatic refunds to all digital pre-orders. A search for the game simply brings up themes and avatar icons.


Which, is a little strange for a game that we assumed was simply being delayed. The planned May 29 release date is officially out of the window, and now this new wrinkle puts a 2020 date into question. Unless there are plans to shift the release to a PlayStation 5 launch title - with PlayStation 4 alongside it. That way those that have pre-ordered who plan on getting a PS5 can get the PS5 version without fuss. And then Sony can re-open pre-orders for the PlayStation 4 version.

It's a line of thinking that makes sense but optimising the game for PlayStation 5 hardware in such a short timeframe could mean that The Last of Us Part II could very well set its sights on 2021. Either way, we'll keep you posted once Sony and Naughty Dog unveil the revised launch plans.