Naughty Dog hiring multiplayer developers for online systems

What you need to know

• Earlier this year, Naughty Dog confirmed that multiplayer was being removed from The Last of Us Part II and would be a different experience at a later point.
• Naughty Dog has continued to hire for multiplayer developers.
• After a delay, The Last of Us Part II is now set to release on May 29, 2020.
• You can preorder The Last of Us Part II for $60 at Amazon (opens in new tab).

Earlier this year, Naughty Dog and PlayStation confirmed that the Factions multiplayer had been removed from The Last of Us Part II. A follow-up announcement on Twitter later revealed that while multiplayer would not be a part of the game however, there would be a multiplayer experience set in the world of The Last of Us that players would get to experience at some point. This news came shortly before the additional information indicating the game would be delayed.

More proof that multiplayer of some kind will be tangible comes from recent job listings. The job listings calls for experience working on online game systems and responsibilities such as "Taking the meticulously crafted themes Naughty Dog's games are known for and integrating a social and competitive experience offers both opportunities and challenges," as well as working to "Architect new online features both for the game and surrounding services."

It's important to note that Naughty Dog was hiring multiplayer developers for some years now to work on The Last of Us Part II. While work to polish The Last of Us Part II in time for launch is no doubt continuing, it's interesting to see that the studio is continuing to hire developers focused on multiplayer aspects.

While it seems likely that this is referring to a standalone multiplayer game that could release in the future, we'll have to wait and see. In the meantime, fans can look forward to playing The Last of Us Part II on May 29, 2020 when it is set to release exclusively for the PlayStation 4.

Related: The Last of Us Part II gets new gameplay and developer commentary Inside the Demo