Despite being incredibly divisive, Naughty Dog's The Last of Us 2 has smashed records since day one. Narrative choices in the sequel deterred a lot of fans who enjoyed the original game, but despite some review bombing on Metacritic, none of that controversy has slowed the game's momentum. The fact that so many fans still feel so strongly about the game, and likely will for years to come, might only be a testament to how powerful it is.
In January, The Last of Us 2 overtook The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt as the most awarded game of all time. Since then, its acclaim has only grown. Not only did The Last of Us 2 win Game of the Year for 2020, but it also snagged a record-breaking number of BAFTA nominations and won 300 out of a potential 576 awards.
Divisive or not, The Last of Us 2 has become the most highly acclaimed game in history and is the best-selling PlayStation exclusive to-date. That's a great thing for Naughty Dog and for the franchise, but The Last of Us 2's success may have some negative consequences for the industry that will be felt for years to come.
The Future is Bright For The Last of Us Franchise
Thanks in part to the success of The Last of Us 2, it's all but certain that there will be a third installment in the franchise. Although development doesn't seem to have started, reports have stated that Naughty Dog already has the story outline drafted. No one knows how long it will be until The Last of Us 3 sees the light of day, but Ellie's story arc is not completed and definitely warrants another game.
In addition to The Last of Us 3 being in the future, Naughty Dog is also working on a remake of The Last of Us. The decision to focus on the remake seems to have come at the expense of a Days Gone sequel, and has been met with some additional controversy in the PlayStation community. While a remake of The Last of Us could improve upon a lot of elements, the game still holds up well when put against current gen titles and some feel like a remake isn't warranted- especially at the cost of a new game.
Justified or not, there is a remake in development that's likely to hit the market at some point in the future. With both a remake and a third game on the way, Naughty Dog certainly has its hands full. Some have argued that the future of Naughty Dog seems defined by The Last of Us, and it's easy to understand why from a financial standpoint. Sony wants to invest in franchises that will sell well and receive critical acclaim. Out of all its exclusive IPs, The Last of Us is probably the most promising in that regard.
A remake would be a good opportunity to ensure the game retains its popularity as the video game industry transitions into true next-gen titles, and it would be a great way to fit in the rumored-to-be-canceled DLC focusing on Abby's past. There are several plot points that could be expanded on, and no one would complain seeing The Last of Us with the sequel's graphics. So while it may not feel like the most necessary project, it will probably do very well whenever it comes out.
Finally, The Last of Us TV adaptation is in pre-production for HBO. The talent is all there, with The Mandalorian's Pedro Pascal and Game of Thrones' Bella Ramsey starring as Joel and Ellie. The story is being taken on by the talent behind HBO's acclaimed limited series Chernobyl, so expectations are high. It's likely that the show will draw in new fans and take the franchise to even greater heights, further cementing its place in gaming history.
The Last of Us May Hinder New IPs and Other Franchises
For fans of The Last of Us, it's great to know that the series has a long and bright future. However, placing so much focus on the series has some consequences. If Naughty Dog is using the brunt of its forces to work on The Last of Us content, it may be at the expense of new IPs or other games, such as an Uncharted spinoff. Naughty Dog was rumored to be working on a new IP, but that was before The Last of Us Remake came to light. That's not to say it still couldn't, but it's known that Naughty Dog has struggled with multi-game development and, given the sheer quality of TLOU2, that's not surprising.
The Last of Us has already had some negative consequences for other franchises in the video game industry, specifically Days Gone. According to reports, a Days Gone sequel pitch was rejected by Sony in favor of The Last of Us. Instead of working on its own new title, Sony assigned Bend Studio to help with The Last of Us Remake project.
Days Gone fans are understandably upset about the news and have gone so far as to create a petition, but Sony has been silent about its decision. Days Gone hasn't achieved anything close to the sales and critical acclaim of The Last of Us, and there are a lot of reasons why Sony may have rejected the pitch. Days Gone spent a long time in development and Sony may be right to invest more time and money into something that has a greater chance of being successful. It's also worth pointing out that the pitch may not have been ready for development yet. That said, it could be the start of a concerning trend.
Naughty Dog has reported that it's having trouble working on multiple projects at once. There are other games the studio has in the pre-production stage, but only one of them is the primary focus. If The Last of Us remains Naughty Dog's number one concern, that could mean that other games are relocated to different studios like Bend. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but it could be if those studios are then prevented from pursuing their own original ideas. It's a domino effect.
Thankfully, Naughty Dog is working on restructuring the company to accommodate multiple projects that way more than one game can be in development at once. Studios like Insomniac have mastered this, with teams dedicated to both Spider-Man and Ratchet and Clank. It's great if fans can have access to more The Last of Us content, but it's not great if that's the only thing Naughty Dog can manage. The studio and the people who make up the development team need to be able to explore new ideas and eventually move on from The Last of Us- when the story is complete, of course.
Sony Can't Let The Last of Us Take Over
The situation with Days Gone could be a one-time thing, and it's not necessarily fair to assume that the sequel would have been approved if not for The Last of Us Remake. But fans are worried that Sony investing too much time into its most successful franchises may have a negative impact on studios trying to create new IPs or cause potentially incredible sequels not to happen. With video game development costs skyrocketing, it's important for developers to use their resources wisely, but sometimes what makes the most financial sense ends up holding back groundbreaking creativity.
Similar scenarios have happened in the film industry. With Hollywood choosing to invest primarily in blockbusters, it's becoming harder and harder to break into the industry with a new idea. The Last of Us is an incredible franchise and it deserves to be invested in, but it shouldn't be the exclusive focus of Naughty Dog or Bend Studio. Naughty Dog is an amazing studio that has a lot of potential to develop more high-quality games like Uncharted and The Last of Us, but if it's only allowed to focus on The Last of Us, those ideas could go unheard and unseen. Naughty Dog shouldn't be just The Last of Us studio.
It's worth pointing out that Bend Studio and Naughty Dog have worked together before; Bend Studio worked on Uncharted: Golden Abyss under Naughty Dog's supervision, so the assignment was probably more thought out than it seems and fans aren't seeing the whole story. The controversy is only growing, however, with more recent rumors suggesting that another Uncharted spinoff by Bend Studio was canceled.
Hopefully as the gaming industry transitions into next-gen, Sony will be able to strike a good balance between continuing other successful franchises and investing in new IPs instead of prioritizing The Last of Us above everything else. All things considered, so far it seems to be doing a pretty good job. Returnal is finally out and games like Forspoken, Deathloop, Kena: Bridge of Spirits, and GhostWire: Tokyo are on the horizon. The PS5 has a long road ahead of it and there's so much that hasn't even been revealed yet.
The Last of Us 2 is available now on PS4.