According to Neil Druckmann, the Creative Director behind the IP, he says that the primary reason for the delay was because he felt that The Last of Us II still wasn’t up to the standards that Naughty Dog was expecting. In his official blog post, Druckmann says that he and his team were faced with two options looking at the current state of the game: compromise parts of the game, or get more time. Ultimately, he chose the latter, which is a thoughtful decision, especially for a title this big. The decision is also a sign that Druckmann understands a golden rule in the world of video game development; regardless of how big or popular a game title is, nobody likes an unpolished or unfinished title. “While we’re relieved that we won’t have to compromise our vision, we’re disappointed that we weren’t able to avoid this exact situation. We wish we could’ve foreseen the amount of polish we needed, but the size and scope of this game got the better of us.” wrote Druckmann. “We hate disappointing our fans and for that we’re sorry.” (Source: Neil Druckmann via PlayStation Blog via The Verge)
