September 26 marked this year's The Last Of Us Day, a holiday that truly speaks to the gamer in all of us. But while it's been more than a year since the release of The Last of Us 2 — which was hailed as an instant classic by many game publications — Naughty Dog says it's still working on the game's multiplayer, which is now being developed as a standalone product per the following tweet from 2019:
No news is good news —
In the blog post, a Naughty Dog rep notes that The Last of Us 2 is the most awarded game of all time. They say that they're still grinding on the unnamed multiplayer game, and they don't provide any sort of timetable for its release, saying that they will "reveal more when it's ready." In short, it's probably what you expected.
In general, though The Last of Us 2 sparked more than its fair share of controversy for risky moves like "including playable women characters" and "having a buff lady in it," it's fair to say that the game was an unvarnished success by pretty much any definition. It scooped up many game of the year awards and managed an OpenCritic score of 93, which is one of the highest on the site for a major title.
Old favorites —
However, The Last of Us 1's multiplayer mode, Factions, is beloved by a certain segment of the game's die-hard fandom, so the exclusion of any way to play with your friends was definitely disappointing to some players. Still, if you're a game developer looking for a new gig, Naughty Dog is hiring for multiplayer-related positions, so go make it happen. We're waiting.
As for the rest of us, we're not really sure how to go about celebrating The Last Of Us Day, so go be creative. No matter what you come up with, it's sure to involve a lot of flannel and plaintive acoustic guitar covers of classic pop songs.
