Neill Druckmann popped up on the Summer Game Fest showcase to give an update on the standalone The Last of Us 2 multiplayer project that the studio has been working on for a long, long time now.
There’s no real news about how far the game has come in development, but Druckmann did give a hint as to the game’s scope and what Naughty Dog are trying to achieve with this game. He also shared this sweeping concept art.
He described The Last of Us standalone multiplayer game as being as big, if not bigger than the studio’s renowned single player game, as they seek to take the original Factions mode to bold new heights. That seems to be bourn out by the other parts of what he described. The game will have a meaningful story mode for players to work through, as well as a brand new cast of characters, and we know how good the characters are in Naughty Dog games tend to be!
However, that’s all we have to go on for now. You’ll have to wait until 2023 before we hear anything more about the game.
Elsewhere, in a lengthy update on all things The Last of Us, Druckmann revealed that the HBO TV adaptation is right on the edge of wrapping up filming. Additionally, Ashely Johnson and Troy Baker have been confirmed to have roles in the TV show, as nice cameos for the actors that made Joel and Ellie such iconic video game characters.
Additionally, Naughty Dog confirmed the long rumoured and (earlier today leaked) The Last of Us Part I, coming to PS5 and PC. The game takes the 2013 original, all of the art, all of the assets and enhances it within the new game engine. The character models and performances have been folded into the new game engines, there’s new combat AI and plenty more that’s done. While you might struggle to pick the game out from the original at a quick glance, it’s sure to have a lasting impact when you sit down and play for an extended period.
