'The Last of Us 2' news: will next installment see death of Joel?

Naughty Boy has been on a roll with their current games out on the market today. Currently, the company is still on a high after releasing 'The Last of Us' back in 2013 and with gamers still hooking on the video game, others have already speculated a sequel in the works for the new franchise.
According to Latinos Post, Voice Actor Nolan North has already confirmed that Naughty Boy is indeed planning a "The Last of Us 2". North is well-known for voicing another popular Naughty Boy franchise, Nathan Drake from "Uncharted".
Movie Pilot reports however, speculates that there will be some delay in the release of "The Last of Us 2" as the company is planning to exhaust all its efforts in finishing 'Uncharted 4: A Thief's End' first. The new Uncharted installment is said to be the last for the entire series. Naughty Boy will then move to developing "The Last of Us 2".
Christian Post reports that Naughty Boy has already started on the story line for the next installment for "The Last of Us". The report has speculated that the main protagonist, Joel, might get killed off at the start of the sequel leaving fans with Ellie and her own adventures. Venture Capital Post also speculates that the company might be adding new characters in the new installment making its more of a multiplayer game unlike its predecessor.
Neil Drunkmann, one of the writers of "The Last of Us" recently talked about the released trailer showing Ellie being forced to kill Joel as he has been infected. Drunkmann states:
"That [trailer about Joel being infected, eventually forcing Ellie to kill him] was constructed in such a way so that people would guess that and think that that's the obvious ending, and then we could turn it on them."
There is still no word on a possible release date for the new game.