The Last of Us developer, Naughty Dog, announced in 2022 that a multiplayer game for the franchise was in development and that more information would be revealed in 2023. However, according to a recent tweet by Naughty Dog, it appears that we won’t actually be seeing the game any time soon.
With the lack of information about the anticipated The Last of Us multiplayer game, many fans expected to see a preview or reveal at the recent PlayStation Showcase. Unfortunately, though, to the disappointment of a large number of PlayStation players, there was no news about the upcoming video game during the hour long presentation.
In an update posted via the official Naughty Dog Twitter account, the developers behind the anticipated The Last of Us multiplayer game addressed fans’ concerns about the game’s missing presence from the showcase and gave some insight into its state of development.
“We are proud of the job our studio has done thus far,” the post states, “but as development has continued, we’ve realized what is best for the game is to give it more time.”
The post continues, assuring fans that the game is still very much being worked on, and that a “brand new single-player experience” is in the works as well. The developer hopes to share more news about these upcoming games soon.
There’s been tons of speculation about what type of game this new The Last of Us multiplayer game will be. During last year’s Summer Game Fest, The Last of Us director, Neil Druckmann, informed that the game is “as big as any of our single-player games that we’ve done, and in some ways, bigger.”
Additionally, in an interview with Buzzfeed, Druckmann said about the multiplayer game that it will feature an entirely new story with new characters that takes place in a city that hasn’t been seen previously in any The Last of Us game, adding that this game is “another chapter in the universe of The Last of Us.”
Druckmann’s statements about the game, in addition to concept art that was shared for it, detailing a view of a large city, has a lot of fans anticipating it to be a strong narrative adventure in an open world with gameplay elements similar to The Division.
While the delay might be disappointing news for fans of the franchise, it could be what the game needs to exceed the exceptionally high expectations that have been set for it.