Earlier this year, Naughty Dog saw a huge leak of assets on its flagship title, causing quite a stir among PlayStation fans. Back in April, a couple months beforeThe Last of Us Part 2’s release date, several aspects of the game like plot details and in-engine gameplay leaked. For a while, news was rampant on who leaked the information and where it came from. Of course, leaking plot details two months ahead of a major single-player release is very bad for fans, but some aspects ofThe Last of Us 2’s multiplayer mode also leaked.
Fast forward a few months after the official release ofThe Last of Us 2, and it’s been pretty silent on the multiplayer front for Naughty Dog. Understandably so, considering late last year the developer announced thatThe Last of Us Part 2’s multiplayer would be delayed. Citing the multiplayer team’s growing ambitions,The Last of Us Part 2’s multiplayer would be expanded into its own standalone release in the future. Now, it seems recent leaks point to the fruits of Naughty Dog’s labor, a true evolution of Factions that may be even bigger and better than its predecessor.
Multiplayer May Be Coming Sooner Than Expected
The first main takeaway is that all of this information comes from recent leaks, many of which are brief gameplay snippets but house several interesting clues. Iffans don’t want to be spoiled by anything period, now would be a good time to turn away for now. That being said, based on the leaks alone, it does showthe development state of whichThe Last of Us 2’s multiplayer extensionis in. So far, it seems multiplayer is pretty far along, as many of the snippets are in-engine along with unique UI elements and mechanics. It wouldn’t be too hasty to assume that right now multiplayer may be on track for a 2021 release.
Of course, that does pose a potential problem. Considering next year the PS5 will have already been released to gaming fans,The Last of Us Part 2’s multiplayer may require development for PS4 and PS5 versions. This wouldn’t be too out of the ordinary, considering the firstThe Last of Usgame received a remaster for PS4 pretty early in the console’s lifespan. Frankly, it wouldn’t be too surprising ifThe Last of Us Part 2does the same thing, or at least uses PS4 backwards compatibility. But if a remaster/re-release is in the cards, the multiplayer development may require more time to release for both consoles.
Multiplayer is Still Related to The Last of Us Part 2
Aside from the current state of development, there are also quite a few details in the multiplayer leaks worth analyzing. Firstly, it’s pretty clear this next iteration of Naughty Dog’s multiplayer appears to bea much-expanded version of Factions inThe Last of Us 2’s engine. Factions was the original multiplayer mode that shipped withThe Last of Usthat’s since had a cult following. Even though the game is releasing standalone, Naughty Dog’s ambitious multiplayer game will still very much be part ofThe Last of Usuniverse.
Many of the environments shown in the leaked gameplay are areas fromThe Last of Us 2. Regions like the snowy small towns from Jackson County or the school grounds in Seattleseem to be adapted versions of the areas inThe Last of Us Part 2’s campaign. Player models seem to resemble the WLF and Seraphites, but the leaked gameplay is too blurry to definitively say those are the two factions. Of course, it would make a lot of sense for these two groups to be the main factions in multiplayer, so it’s probably safe to assume that will be the case. Those same metagame elements from the original Factions will presumably carry over as well, some of which is indicated by UI elements.
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A Clear Evolution from Factions
The leaked gameplay seems to reference quite a few new mechanics in multiplayer that seem to be related to the Factions metagame.In the originalThe Last of Us, Factions included a 12-week (in-game time) metagamethat players progressed through with each multiplayer match. Basically each match was contextualized into resource gathering for each player’s respective group of survivors, with each win/loss resulting in greater/lesser supplies for each player’s group. A similar system seems to be implemented inThe Last of Us Part 2, with “expedition” days marking each match’s progression. There’s also various rewards of individual supplies for doing various tasks like assists, kills, takedowns, etc.
The Last of Us Part 2’s is shaping up to be very familiar so far, assuming these leaks represent a more refined state of the game. Based on the leaks alone, it’d be a safe bet to assumeNaughty Dog’s new multiplayer will likely ship next year. While the delay statement from 2019 was a bit unclear about what the ambition meant for the multiplayer, but it’s clear this will be an expanded evolution/iteration of Factions fromThe Last of Us. For now, the new “expedition” mechanics remain a mystery, but they likely function similarly to the original Factions metagame. Fans of the original Factions will likely be pleased when official gameplay is shown ofThe Last of Us Part 2’s multiplayer spin-off.
The Last of Us Part 2’sMultiplayer is in development.
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