Naughty Dog is working on a standalone multiplayer game, after spinning out The Last of Us 2’s prototype online mode into a fully-fledged title.
Speaking at Summer Games Fest 2022, The Last of Us 2 co-director Neil Druckmann said the game’s in-development multiplayer mode has been converted into a standalone game to meet the team's ambitious visions. After two years of development, the studio’s concept of the game mode has grown to such an extent that it believes the title can exist as its own entity.
A single piece of concept art for the game was shared during the showcase. The upcoming multiplayer title will still be based in The Last of Us universe, and Druckmann said it is as big as any of Naughty Dog’s single-player games. It will also reportedly feature a central storyline.
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The as-yet-unnamed multiplayer title will feature a new cast of characters and a city that hasn’t cropped up in The Last of Us series before. Druckmann said that its story will be told in such a way that is unique to the game, and veterans of both the Uncharted and The Last of Us series are working on the project.
More details about the secretive game are expected to be released next year. Now two years into development, a 2023 release date isn’t wholly out of the picture, either.
