Naughty Dog's next game is likely free-to-play

Amongst all the excitement of The Last of Us Part I’s release, it may have slipped your mind that a multiplayer title set in The Last of Us universe is on its way. The first game in the series featured an online mode called Factions as part of its complete package, but this unfortunately didn’t return in the 2020 sequel or this year’s remake.

The Last of Us Part II’s scrapped online mode apparently formed the basis for this new game, though, so it's all worked out in the end. Admittedly, we don’t know a great deal about it yet - a piece of concept art was revealed during this year’s not-E3, Summer Game Fest, which shows two people seemingly in the midst of a fight in The Last of Us’ version of San Francisco. That, or another place that has a stunningly accurate replica of the Golden Gate Bridge.

Take a look at the trailer for The Last of Us TV adaptation below.

Now, users on the r/GamingLeaksAndRumours subreddit are theorising that the title might actually be free-to-play when it releases. A new job ad for Naughty Dog states that the company is “looking for a Live Ops Producer to support our major new multiplayer title”. What’s more, it adds that having “proven experience in a production role supporting a AAA, free to play, live title” would be a bonus skill for the candidate.

It’s worth keeping in mind that The Last of Us’ multiplayer game isn’t referred to by name here, but it seems like a pretty solid guess that this is the “major new multiplayer title” the listing is referring to, and searching for someone with free-to-play experience certainly suggests that Naughty Dog is looking to go down this very route.

It was previously confirmed that more of the game will be shown off sometime next year, so we’ll just have to wait for that.