The Last of Us Multiplayer Is Naughty Dog’s Most Ambitious Project Ever, Says Neil Druckmann

Fans have been hyped about The Last of Us multiplayer ever since Naughty Dog announced that Part II wouldn’t feature the Factions mode because the bigger ambitions of the team demanded a standalone game.

Series creator Neil Druckmann once again spoke about The Last of Us multiplayer in a recent interview with ComicBook.com (via DomTheBomb), and his words will surely fuel the anticipation even further. When asked what came next for Naughty Dog, Druckmann said:

There is The Last of Us multiplayer project that we’ve been working on for a long time, since even before The Last of Us Part II shipped. That’s the most ambitious project we’ve ever done, expanding the world even further, continuing to tell a story but in a multiplayer space, though I won’t say too much about that.

Back in September 2020, Druckmann had already teased that The Last of Us multiplayer would be worth the wait. Here, though, we’ve received a tiny bit of extra info that tells us narrative will still be at the core of this project. As such, previous rumors of a Battle Royale mode may well be unfounded unless Naughty Dog seeks to break new ground in that genre.

In June 2022, journalist Jeff Grubb said The Last of Us multiplayer would be very much a live service game where the developers would regularly add new content. It’s also possible that the business model will be free to play, as Naughty Dog was searching for a Live Operations Producer with experience in releasing free to play titles. The project’s team is led by Vinit Agarwal, Joe Pettinati, and Anthony Newman.

PC gamers will soon get to play The Last of Us Part I, due to launch on March 3rd. Meanwhile, the first episode of the TV series adaptation is now available on HBO Max, starring Pedro Pascal as Joel, Bella Ramsey as Ellie, Gabriel Luna as Tommy, Anna Torv as Tess, Merle Dandridge as Marlene, Nico Parker as Sarah, Storm Reid as Riley, Jeffrey Pierce as Perry, Murray Bartlett as Frank and Nick Offerman as Bill.