Information about Naughty Dog’s next release being The Last of Us 2 has been leaked several times. Read on to learn more about the info that was leaked and other accounts pointing to it.
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The Last of Us Part 2: Remastered Coming?
Hints About The Last of Us Part 2: Remastered
On October 6th, a ResetEra user named Red Kong XIX posten an image on the forum titled “The Last of Us Part II Remastered mentioned in Naughty Dog employee LinkedIn profile.” The user also credited Angie and Cyberia as the ones who originally found the information. The employee, Mark Pajarillo, is a Lead Outsource Artist at Naughty Dog. He stated in his LinkedIn profile that he is directly involved in both The Last of Us: Part One and The Last of Us 2: Remastered and that he is responsible for “overseeing the production of all outsourced environment art assets, weapons, and interactive props,” in both games. His profile has since been updated to remove the information about the stated remaster.
This points to yet another confirmation about a remaster to The Last of Us 2 similar to the rumor from a Spanish interview with the composer back in July. Gustavo Santaolalla, the composer of The Last of Us games and series, stated in the interview that there is a new version of the game that lets the player talk to a virtual in-game version of him and request specific songs. The original version did not have this, as his character was not interactable. More than a remake, however, fans of the series are still waiting for the PC release. Many believe it to be an obvious decision to release this game on the PC platform following its critical success in both the gaming world and with it's recent TV show adaptation.
This remastered/director’s cut version is speculated to be a new PC port or another $10 upgrade for a PS5 version.
Naughty Dog Moving Forward
Remaster, Re-release, Recycle
Since the release of The Last of Us Part II back in 2020 for the PS4, Naughty Dog has yet to release anything new from their trademark series other than remasters or re-releases. Since then they have released Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves Collection and The Last of Us Part I, both of which are ports for the PC and re-releases for the PS5. Both ports don’t add anything new other than improved frame rate and slightly better graphics. The Last of Us was already previously remastered in 2014, a year after its initial release, to accommodate PS4 support. Afterwards, the game received yet another remaster for the PS5 in 2022 and a PC release in March 2023. With the rumors of The Last of Us Part 2 being remastered, this would mark yet another release from Naughty Dog where they just recycle their games and add nothing substantial to it in the process.
Future Plans On Hold?
The company has been facing issues currently with mass layoffs and their co-president retiring, which may be part of why they have yet to release anything fresh for the past 5 years. Naughty Dog tweeted last May that they had to delay The Last of Us: Factions as they needed more time. They also mentioned they were developing a brand new single player experience. There has been no updates on both titles since then, and fans are getting fatigued at this point with their constant rehashing and recycling of old titles.
Sources:
ResetEra - TLOU Part 2 Remaster Post
TheGamer - TLOU 2 Remaster Article
TheGamer - Composer Hints At TLOU 2 Remaster Article
