The Last of Us 2 multiplayer will be standalone game instead

September 27, 2019

Yesterday’s breaking news of The Last of Us 2 multiplayer being scrapped in favor of an ambitious and sprawling single-player campaign didn’t sit well with all players. While the majority seemed to welcome the decision, a very vocal minority wasn’t pleased with the lack of The Last of Us 2 multiplayer.

The Factions mode from the first The Last of Us was a surprisingly robust multiplayer take, and many players had hoped for or even expected an improved version of the mode to appear in the game’s sequel. However, Naughty Dog isn’t completely scrapping its plans for multiplayer, although it will take a significantly different approach.

ALSO: The Last of Us 2 release date announced at PlayStation State of Play 2019

In a recent tweet, Naughty Dog shed some light on the subject. It turns out that the development team didn’t outright scrap the multiplayer mode; instead, the evolution of the Factions mode was so extensive that the team didn’t feel justified to include it in The Last of Us 2.

Naughty Dog’s decision ended up being to remove multiplayer from The Last of Us 2, but for a good reason. The team’s vision for the online mode will eventually be shared with gamers, but not in The Last of Us 2. The makers of the Uncharted series can’t say exactly when and where this will be realized, but the tweet hints at a standalone multiplayer game that grew from the Factions mode.

This is leading to a noteworthy amount of fan speculation, with some players being completely fine with the lack of multiplayer, while others are glad that the team is devoting their full attention to The Last of Us 2 single-player campaign.

Naughty Dog’s clarification did raise quite a few questions, the fundamental one being the theme of the standalone multiplayer game. Is the studio planning on grounding it on the familiar universe of The Last of Us, or are we in for a brand-new world and IP? Pick a Faction and tell us what you think in the comments.