Despite early reports that said that a multiplayer mode will return in The Last of Us Part II, it appears that is no longer the case.
It’s been reported that The Last of Us Part II will not have multiplayer.
A sequel to the highly acclaim Last of Us game on the PlayStation 3 (and later PS4), Part II continues the adventures of Ellie from the first game. Developed by Naughty Dog, Ellie still lives in an apocalyptic world overrun by zombie-like humans that are infected with a monstrous fungus. The most recent trailer for Part II finally revealed that Joel, the playable protagonist from the first game, is returning, and the game finally has a release date. The game will release on Feb 21, 2020.
Despite rumors and early reports claiming that the game will be getting multiplayer mode, it turns out that isn’t the case anymore. USgamer interviewed Emilia Schatz, Naughty Dog Lead Game Designer. During the interview, Schatz confirms that The Last of Us Part II will be a singleplayer game. The publication will later get clarification from a Sony email about the game, reiterating what Schatz told them and Part II will only be a singleplayer game.
Last year, other media websites reported that a multiplayer mode of some short will be making its way to Part II. The directors of the game seemed to have confirmed it a past interview with GameSpot, saying “Multiplayer is coming back.”
Things have changed since that interview. The game as is has proven to be much larger than most realized; the game will come in two discs. If the full two discs worth of content is just the singleplayer experience, then maybe it wasn’t possible to fit in a multiplayer mode even if Naughty Dog wanted too.
While there may not be a multiplayer mode at launch, that doesn’t mean there will be one later down the line via a patch. Other games have done that before, adding a multiplayer mode post-launch. Though at the moment, a multiplayer mode does not seem like it is a priority for Naughty Dog.
The Last of Us Part II is coming to the PlayStation 4 exclusively on Feb. 21, 2020.
UPDATE
Naughty Dog has released an official statement on the company’s Twitter account. The statement revealed that The Last of Us Part II will not have an online mode, but they were working on one during early development. However, the vision of the online mode became more ambitious than they intended. They promise players that they would get to experience “the fruit of our team’s online ambition,” yet it won’t be part of The Last of Us Part II.
An update regarding multiplayer: pic.twitter.com/CUd98LgJGC
— Naughty Dog (@Naughty_Dog) September 27, 2019
