A standalone multiplayer The Last of Us game, known as Factions 2, has been in and out of the limelight of recent, with layoffs and other obstacles making it seem as though the game would never come to fruition. Thankfully, we now have confirmation from Naughty Dog game director Vinit Agarwal that the game is still being worked on.
It's a bit of a strange reveal, couched in a post celebrating Agarwal's success in clearing all the Special World courses in Super Mario World.
"Yes, I’m still working on that game" the post says after a little nod to all the fallen Marios that got him where he is today. There's little doubt that he's referencing the frequently asked question of whether Factions 2 is still underway. Essentially, he's trying to mitigate the fact that anything he posts now would inevitably become inundated with fans of the original The Last of Us game's multiplayer mode begging for a standalone game. And when the game is apparently "much bigger than a mode", I can understand their desperation.
- Cancelled The Last of Us Online game was "great," but former PlayStation exec says Naughty Dog had to scrap it after Bungie told them how much work it would be
- 5 years after starting development, Neil Druckmann says Naughty Dog's new game Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet is "still evolving and changing as we're making it"
Earlier this year, Naughty Dog diverted resources away from the Factions 2 multiplayer project following a bad internal review from Bungie. And with the game reportedly "on ice" at this point, there's been little hope for the project's revival.
Well, now we have heard it from the director himself - something's going on behind the scenes. Whether that means actual work is being done to get the game finished, or simply that the odd secret meeting is being held, in the dark places where Bungie can't hurt them, is another matter.
"Tell Bungie they need to fix their own game before putting yours on ice" one commenter says, encouragingly.
You can check out our upcoming PS5 games guide for a look over all the exclusive titles set to launch later this year and beyond.
