On September 26, Naughty Dog celebrated the post-apocalyptic The Last of Us with its annual Outbreak Day extravaganza. Amongst a torrent of announcements that featured the release of a cover album, an expensive-looking statue of Joel, and the first glimpse of HBO's live action adaptation of the series, an update was provided to fans about another hotly anticipated piece of media. In a brief statement on Naught Dog's official blog site, the studio's senior communications manager Rochelle Snyder confirmed that the multiplayer project often referred to by players as The Last of Us 2 Factions, is still actively being developed.
Having declared that the game was being separated out of The Last of Us 2 on the same day exactly two years prior to this, Naughty Dog's multiplayer project has understandably been a frequent topic of discussion amongst fans ever since. With the aforementioned single-player exploration of humanity having now shipped almost 16 months ago, a significant amount of time has passed since the studio's online vision was originally penciled in to launch within it. As development continues to progress, it becomes all the more apparent that when the potentially standalone game eventually ships, 'The Last of Us 2 Factions' will be a completely new entry in the franchise that will most likely carry its own distinct moniker.
Naughty Dog's Technical Development
If the length of Naughty Dog's statement and the lack of concrete details are any indication, it's going to be some time before fans get to play the game that started out as The Last of Us 2's multiplayer. This is arguably the biggest sign that the online-centric title that ultimately gets shipped, will be significantly different enough from the single-player one that came out in 2020, to warrant it being classed as a separate entity entirely. Giving a studio like Naughty Dog that length of time to work on a project naturally ensures that technical advancements in areas like graphical fidelity and performance are going to be made. In many ways, 'The Last of Us 2 Factions' was almost guaranteed to look visually better in comparison to its namesake from the moment it was jettisoned from the original game.
What's going to exasperate all of that even more is the fact that the PlayStation ecosystem has changed more dramatically over the last year than normal, thanks to the arrival of the PS5. While no platforms have been officially announced for Naughty Dog's multiplayer game, it's hard to envision it skipping Sony's brand new console. Even if a PS4 version is released, there's more than enough historical evidence to confidently say that the publisher will push the next generation version of the game to the fullest. That ensures that, thanks to the DualSense's haptic feedback and adaptive triggers, the PS5 incarnation will play like a distinctly brand new installment for good measure as well. It therefore wouldn't be the most shocking turn of events if when the game eventually breaks cover again, that it's simply referred as something like The Last of Us Factions, so as to better reflect its distinct identity.
Naughty Dog Shakeup
Changes behind the scenes to Naughty Dog's internal complexion will have had the knock-on effect of further pushing The Last of Us Factions into becoming its own separate entry within the franchise as well. In addition to a recent shakeup at the top of the studio's management structure, in the time since The Last of Us 2 shipped Sony's first party studio has made a noticeable push to hire more multiplayer focused developers. As recently as this summer, listings were still being posted to Naughty Dog's official website that were on the lookout for developers with all manner of online-centric game creation experience. One in particular that caught the attention of many fans alluded to the Factions game having a distinct live-service focus to it, presumably akin to recent multiplayer hits like Fortnite and Apex Legends.
These job listings strongly suggest that the scope of the project and its content has expanded greatly beyond what was initially envisioned for The Last of Us 2's multiplayer modes. When the PS3's original The Last of Us shipped in 2013, its online component was limited to just three traditional game types. It's reasonable to envision that when the follow-up was first put into development, that the content involved was built heavily on top of that first lineup of modes. Based on the newest developers Naughty Dog has hired, in addition to cryptic hints from people working on the game, the scope of the project has seemingly continued to expand well beyond that though. To the point that there's a solid chance The Last of Us Factions will look unlike any other game in Sony's current single-player dominated first party lineup, let alone The Last of Us 2.
The Last of Us Remake Rumors
Over the last few months, there have been consistent reports released by reputable insiders that indicate Naughty Dog is currently working on a modern remake of the original The Last of Us. The fact that an upgraded version of a game from 2013 is already seemingly in the works and justified in Sony's eyes, further demonstrates how the studio has never stood still from a technical development perspective. What could also be significant, though, is how the multiplayer game that was once a part of The Last of Us 2 might fit into that particular equation.
Theoretically speaking at least, it's possible that the proximity of the two projects to one another could prompt Naughty Dog to package them as one entity - perhaps with a Director's Cut-style incarnation of The Last of Us 2 included in the collection for good measure. In recent times it's become increasingly common for publishers to launch multiplayer games as free-to-play experiences, complete with microtransactions and other live-service features in an attempt to quickly build install bases. While it's hard to envision Sony doing the same with The Last of Us 2's multiplayer game, based on popularity of the original incarnation of the mode, including it within an ultimate definitive package instead would be a potentially lucrative alternative.
While one job listing uncovered in June made reference to Naughty Dog creating its first standalone multiplayer game, there's an outside chance that this could relate to a separate project entirely. Even though a compilation does admittedly seem highly unlikely, the original press release that revealed The Last of Us 2's multiplayer modes had grown beyond the boundaries of the single-player game did not specify that it would necessarily see the light of day as a standalone game instead. Both the when and where of the conundrum were left noticeably ambiguous, beyond the fact that it wouldn't be included within the sequel. Even if the game is left to stand on its own two feet, calling it The Last of Us 2 Factions no longer describes the separate entity and experience that it has clearly grown into.
The Last of Us 2's Factions multiplayer is currently in development.