According to this job listing, the developers of The Last of Us 2 are on the hunt for someone who can “design, implement, and tune game economy and player progression systems”. The listing does not specify what kind of game the said developer would be working on. Instead, it’s listed as a “multiplayer action game”. However, with the 2013 action-adventure title receiving a multiplayer mode, it is possible that this could be pertaining to a potential multiplayer mode for The Last of Us 2.
Is Naughty Dogs Working on The Last of Us 2 Factions?
We haven’t heard of Factions for a while now. The since-deleted gameplay leak last year is the only credible information we have regarding the rumored multiplayer mode so far. But, now that the job listing has been spotted, we can at least presume that Naughty Dog is working on it - and is making it live-service. Of course, we can’t exactly rule out that it’s not for The Last of Us 2. We already know that Naughty Dog are working on multiple projects at the moment from multiple sources. This includes Neil Druckmann, who is the co-president of Naughty Dog.
— Dr. Uckmann (@Neil_Druckmann) March 2, 2021 With that said, it is nice to know that the upcoming multiplayer title will have a long-term in-game economy. Many of the most successful multiplayer games today are partially supported by their live service feature. The constant influx of cash from the profit made by services provided gives developers an incentive to maintain the game’s online servers. More importantly, it gives them a reason to keep on adding fresh and new content to their games. This is one of the glaring issues with the first Factions from the 2013 title. The Last of Us was widely considered one of the best games of the time, if not of all time. However, its multiplayer mode was not as well-received. Although it did garner a loyal following over the years, many would drop in and out of the game, and blame the lack of fresh content for this as it could not make up for the tight gameplay and mechanics. With the foundation of a solid multiplayer title already there, Naughty Dog only needs to focus on making sure that the multiplayer mode lives on for years.
