The Last of Us Part 2 will be with fans sooner than you think. As of today, it's confirmed that the game has officially gone gold - meaning it's complete and being sent off to be printed onto discs, and uploaded to the PlayStation network.
The news is another example of positive buzz following last week's announcement of a new official release date. The Last of Us Part 2 has been the subject of a number of controversies and issues regarding its upcoming release. It was previously delayed indefinitely due to issues involving COVID-19 and the lack of a release date for The Last of Us Part 2 made some fans nervous, as many people were concerned that the game would be pushed back to 2021. The situation was made worse when major story spoilers for The Last of Us Part 2 leaked online, with some "fans" spreading significant scenes on social media. This led to a heartbreaking response from the developers, as years of anticipation regarding the story developments in the game were taken away in a matter of hours.
Sony announced a new release date for The Last of Us Part 2 shortly after the spoilers made their way online. The Last of Us Part 2 is due to be released on June 19, 2020 and it seems likely to hit this new release date. The Last of Us Part 2's creative director/lead co-writer Neil Druckmann has revealed on the official Naughty Dog Instagram and Twitter that the game has officially gone gold.
The term "gone gold" means that a video game is now in a releasable state, so the developers have created a master copy that will be used to produce other versions of the game. This means that the mass-production of the game has begun and it won't be long before its ready for distribution around the globe. It's common for a lot of video games to require a day one patch that fixes any issues that are discovered after the game has gone gold or couldn't be fixed in time, so the developers are usually still working hard on bug-fixing during this period of time.
There are some fans who believe that the spoilers forced Naughty Dog and Sony's hand, causing The Last of Us Part 2 to be rushed out of the door. The Last of Us Part 2 is available to pre-order, so it's clear that the parties involved are all-in on releasing it in June. It remains to be seen whether the game will be launched in a complete state, but we won't have to wait long to find out, as the release of The Last of Us Part 2 is only a few weeks away.
The Last of Us Part 2 releases exclusively for PlayStation 4 on June 19, 2020.
Source: Naughty Dog