Based on a recent social media post from Naughty Dog Co-President Neil Druckmann, The Last of Us and Uncharted studio has at least three games in active development. Since shipping The Last of Us Part II in June 2020, the Santa Monica-headquartered team has only confirmed that it's hard at work on The Last of Us 2's Factions multiplayer suite.
Details about the standalone online game presently remain under lock and key, yet notable Battlefield leaker Tom Henderson claims Sony and Naughty Dog plan to launch the title sometime this year. Henderson further alleged that the long-rumored The Last of Us remake will also hit stores in the back half of 2022, though the game has yet to receive so much as a tease from Sony. This supposed second re-release for TLoU entered the public consciousness in April 2021, after reports about an internal shake-up within SIE revealed the not-so-secret San Diego team once helmed The Last of Us remake project. Reportedly, the crew at Naughty Dog has since taken up development duties for the unannounced endeavor.
Yesterday, February 3, Naughty Dog noted it's currently hiring across multiple disciplines. Studio Co-President Neil Druckmann chimed in not too long thereafter (via The Gamer), inviting developers to apply while also teasing that three separate games are in the works. It seems safe to assume The Last of Us Factions counts as one project. Meanwhile, the aforementioned rumors suggest a full remake for the franchise first entry serves as another. What Naughty Dog's third mystery game could entail remains to be seen. See the cryptic social media post from Druckmann in the following tweet.
Since two Last of Us-related projects seem primed for a 2022 release, there's no telling what else the studio may have up its sleeve. Another Naughty Dog-developed Uncharted sequel isn't too far beyond the realm of possibility, of course, especially since developers have expressed an interest in potentially returning to the treasure-hunting adventure series. The Last of Us Part III could be on the table as well; after all, Druckmann previously divulged that he and Part II's Narrative Lead Halley Gross wrote an outline for a third entry that, as of early 2021, hadn't entered production.
However, many hope the award-winning team will explore new IP sooner rather than later. Since 2007, Naughty Dog has shipped seven games across two franchises - Uncharted and The Last of Us. It would seem a change of scenery is in order once Factions and the alleged Last of Us remake launch.
Source: Neil Druckmann/Twitter (via The Gamer)
