TLOU Multiplayer Game Director Still "Working" On Project

Following multiple teases over the last few years and numerous player requests, developer Naughty Dog confirmed during the Summer Games Fest 2022 that a standalone multiplayer game is being developed. This multiplayer game, set in the world of The Last of Us, is reported to debut new characters and boast unique storylines to be set in San Franciso, California, according to its official announcement.

However, development has been hindered due to multiple layoffs, which saw the studio having to scale back the scope of the multiplayer game. This was due to Sony conducting an evaluation of the studio and the acquisition of Destiny developer Bungie, but its game director provided an update regarding the development of The Last of Us multiplayer game.

Game director Vinit Agarwal recently posted to his Twitter account providing a monumental achievement of completing the latest Nintendo game, Super Mario Bros. Wonder. Attached in his tweet is a screenshot of the game along with an update for The Last of Us multiplayer game, in which Agarwal had the following to say:

I did it! Wow, that was hard; easily, 300+ Marios dead in the process. And so this tweet can live on in peace… yes, I’m still working on that game.

According to a Bloomberg report in May 2023, its development was impacted due to the layoffs confirmed in a tweet by Naughty Dog. According to Bungie’s feedback on the multiplayer’s value and viability, the studio “raised questions about The Last of Us multiplayer project’s ability to keep players engaged for a long period of time, which led to the reassessment.”

Despite the feedback, the game would continue developing; however, many of its development team had moved on to other projects, with a handful remaining. As such, Naughty Dog confirmed in their social media post that the multiplayer game needed more time in development, which corroborates Agarwal’s tweet that he’s still working on the game.

As we can expect more details and announcements for The Last of Us multiplayer game to be announced in the coming months, this latest update should give fans some hope. Nevertheless, we still don’t have a release date, gameplay footage, or additional in-game shots, but it won’t be long before players get to see them in the months to follow.