Naughty Dog Has ‘No Comment’ On The Last Of Us Factions, In Improvement Since 2020

The Last of Us Factions continues to be considered one of Sony’s weirdest in-development initiatives. That is, if it’s nonetheless in growth in any respect.

Now, Naughty Dog’s Neil Druckmann has a brand new remark when requested in regards to the recreation, and that’s…no remark. In an interview with EWthey requested about each Factions and a possible Last of Us Part III.

Druckman mentioned he had “no update” on Factions, and no remark extra typically on the way forward for TLOU, that recreation included:

“The Last of Us is clearly a world I like deeply and know our studio and followers do as effectively, however I’ve no remark at this second on the sequence’ future past our deal with The Last of Us Part II Remastered,” and, “We produce other initiatives within the works at Naughty Dog.”

While I can perceive that there can be nothing to say about The Last of Us Part III, which has not been introduced or teased, and will not even occur (although I feel it’s going to, partly to sync up with future seasons of Druckmann’s beloved HBO sequence), pulling a “no comment” on Factions at this level after all of the reporting about its troubles feels bizarre. It’s time to fish or reduce bait right here after this saga.

The growth of The Last of Us Factions reportedly began in 2020 across the launch of TLOU Part II, with an enormous chunk of that staff engaged on find out how to make a standalone, dwell service, multiplayer recreation for Sony, above and past previous multiplayer modes they’d achieved.

Then, by 2022 Druckmann was nonetheless saying issues prefer it was Naughty Dog’s “biggest ever effort,” sharing the singular piece of idea artwork on prime of this submit that continues to be the one preview of the sport in spite of everything these years.

Internally, that is the place reporting started that issues have been in hassle. First, it was Sony-acquired dwell service consultants Bungie reviewing the sport and saying it wasn’t participating sufficient. Then, we heard that it had been put “on ice.” Just just lately, Jason Schreier reported that at the least some builders are engaged on the sport, but it surely’s unclear what number of or what the state of it’s. The extra time goes on the extra this looks as if it may find yourself being a money pit that by no means sees the sunshine of day, and Naughty Dog could transfer on to different initiatives.

This would align with Sony’s recent backtracking on its dwell service ambitions, beforehand asserting a dozen within the subsequent few years, then halving that to 6, with the opposite six popping out at some unspecified level sooner or later, but it surely appears unlikely all will survive. It’s not clear which group Factions is meant to be in. It does almost look like sunk cost at this level, three years of growth with large chunks of Naughty Dog engaged on it, if not virtually the entire studio at one level. Now? Who is aware of, and Druckmann isn’t saying or providing even a glimmer of hope, three years later.

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Pick up my sci-fi novels the Herokiller series and The Earthborn Trilogy.