So we’ve got some good and bad news for those waiting to hear more about Naughty Dog’s latest title, The Last of Us: Part II. The game is indeed still on schedule, and although it’s looking like an amazing video game, things aren’t all smooth over at the developer. Back when the gameplay footage, gory as it was, premiered at E3 2018, gamers were shocked and excited about the future of the narrative-driven game. And according to Naughty Dog, they should be, as this is the most ambitious title they’ve ever worked on. Which is rather fitting for such an emotional and engrossing story. Although they originally promised a multiplayer component, it looks like that’s been canned, according to Naughty Dog on Twitter.
The Last of Us had Factions, a multiplayer game mode that pit two teams against each other in furious combat over limited resources. Players who won matches would collect a small cache of supplies for their settlement of choice, with successful teams getting boosts and better gear for their effort. The mode was fun and a good competitive entry that helped build the world of the first game, but Naughty Dog wanted more. To that end, they set out to do something much grander for the sequel, but that appears to have backfired.
The company said in a statement that the new game would not have an online mode, as they instead wanted to focus on a much more immersive and engaging campaign. “As we’ve stated, the single-player campaign is far and away the most ambitious project Naughty Dog has ever undertaken,” they said. “Likewise, as development began on the evolution of our Factions mode from The Last of Us Part I, the vision of the team grew beyond an additional mode that could be included with our enormous single-player campaign. Wanting to support both visions, we made the difficult choice that The Last of Us Part II would not include an online mode.”
Instead, they have decided to apparently spin-off that effort into a standalone project. Not many details have been uncovered thus far, other than a job listing allegedly tied to the title that was spotted online. Whether this will take the path of GTA Online and be a much bigger mode with perpetual development and updates has not been confirmed.
The long-awaited continuation of Ellie’s story is due soon. The Last of Us: Part II will release on February 21 2020 for PlayStation 4.
