[While The Last of Us Day came and went with new licensed merchandise and an official tabletop game, series director Neil Druckmann teased on Twitter that the biggest announcement is yet to come and will "be worth it," likely alluding to news about or the arrival of The Last of Us 2's multiplayer component. The original story continues below.]
Developer Naughty Dog may be hinting at future multiplayer content for The Last of Us Part II. The game released with no multiplayer and no DLC - a deliberate move by Naughty Dog. Prior to Part II’s release, the developer claimed that it wanted to focus its team entirely on providing an in-depth and compelling single-player campaign, similar to how developer Crystal Dynamics decided to exclude multiplayer entirely from the second and third entries in the recent Tomb Raider reboot trilogy after including it in the first.
The difference between these two examples, however, is that the multiplayer in the original Last of Us, a mode called “Factions,” was fairly well received. Factions took aspects of The Last of Us’ unique setting and incorporated it into the gameplay. For example, players could craft weaponry the same way Joel and Ellie could in the campaign, use Listen Mode to locate nearby enemies, and perform brutal finishers on downed enemies much like characters did throughout The Last of Us’ main story. Even the premise of Factions was distinct; instead of shooting other players for bragging rights, players were primarily tasked with collecting supplies during matches that were used to feed and support survivors in their camps.
Naughty Dog’s Instagram post itself centers around the renaming of its September 26th celebration, which had previously been recognized by the developer as “Outbreak Day” in celebration of the game’s lore and reception. However, given the current situation regarding COVID-19, the developer has decided to instead label the day as “The Last of Us Day,” which it says “not only acknowledges the world around us, but also reflects the growth of the community as we welcome millions of new players with the release of The Last of Us Part II.” To close out the post, Naughty Dog mentions that it has “exciting things planned” that it plans on sharing in “just a few days.”
Fans of the original Last of Us may remember that the first game’s DLC, “Left Behind,” was released roughly one year after the game’s initial release. Although it may be too soon for DLC by the first game’s standards, Naughty Dog also stated that The Last Of Us Part II would not receive a multiplayer mode, but rather a standalone title that functions as the game’s multiplayer component. Little is known about what this could mean, but there is some precedent for this idea due to Resident Evil 3 Remake’s approach to multiplayer, Resident Evil: Resistance. Although Resistance was packaged with Resident Evil 3, it is technically a non-canon standalone multiplayer title. Naughty Dog may be drawing from this example.
Luckily, it does not seem as though the wait for answers will take long. Ideally, both DLC and a multiplayer mode will be included sooner rather than later, as the main game was technically completed months before its official launch. This means that Naughty Dog has hopefully had time to work on these additions before The Last of Part II even hit shelves. In the meantime, the developer continues to remind players that its success is due not only to its masterful game development, but also its devotion to valuing the human connection in its narratives.
Source: Instagram