The Last of Us 2 is undoubtedly one of the most hyped upcoming games right now. We’ve been seeing different teasers and gameplay trailers for the game for almost 3 years now. While the first game had its own brilliant storyline and emotionally impactful characters that turned it into a monumental success, Naughty Dog has promised that things will get cranked up to eleven in part 2. People have been dying to find out how the world and characters have evolved after the events of the first game.
A few days ago, after much anticipation, Naughty Dog released another trailer for The Last of Us 2 during the State of Play presentation that made the plot of the game much more clear. However, the biggest surprise from the trailer was the appearance from Joel, confirming that he was, indeed, still alive and kicking.
We also finally got to know the release date for the game, affirming that The Last of Us 2 will be out on February 21, 2020 on the PS4. However, people weren’t quite left satisfied after that announcement.
Naughty Dog says no to The Last of Us 2 Multiplayer
The Last of Us had an amazing online multiplayer mode which turned into a cult classic. It was intuitive, fun and just well-crafted. Fans of the franchise had been banking on some sort of announcement for the multiplayer in The Last of Us 2 as well. However, after complete silence from Naughty Dog on the matter, people rallied and started asking questions and were eventually able to get a response from the developer.
Yesterday, Naughty Dog tweeted out that The Last of Us 2 will not include an online multiplayer game mode. The developer stated that The Last of Us 2 single player experience was “far and away the most ambitious project Naughty Dog has ever undertaken” and thus had to make the difficult decision to forego multiplayer in exchange for a much more polished single player campaign.
Naughty Dog did state, however, that it intended to eventually bring back multiplayer in some form later down the line but not as a part of The Last of Us 2.
Outrage from the community
While the decision to dump multiplayer in favor of a better single player experience was somewhat understandable, people were still not satisfied with the response from Naughty Dog. The tweet from the developer was bombarded by the gaming community saying that they expected better.
However, the disappointment and anguish of the people was justified as well, since The Last of Us multiplayer was such an amazing experience and not having that in the second game would certainly be a downgrade.
I was so excited for this game because of the multiplayer and now I'm let down. Sure the campaign will be good but I don't want to play vs ai bots all the time. You guys dropped the ball
— BMilitant (@BMilitant) September 27, 2019
Some of the fans of the multiplayer from the original game were much more eloquent about their reservations and explained why they wanted multiplayer in the game. The Last of Us does have an amazing setting and very good gun play mechanics and Naughty Dog not capitalizing on their strengths to make an experience for a much broader audience is rather strange.
https://twitter.com/BrokenGamezHDR/status/1177393624516087808
Meanwhile, some other fans just expressed their anger and disappointment without really saying much. Naughty Dog as a studio is held in such high regard as they have always delivered in the past but excluding such an integral part of the experience from the second game is rather disappointing.
However, things were not all gloomy in the Naughty Dog land as many people were actually happy with the decision as well and came out in full support of the developer.
https://twitter.com/protectbabysif1/status/1177393360291717123
The Last of Us 2, with or without the multiplayer, would still probably be an amazing experience. The game’s main selling point has never been about multiplayer. Most of the hype for the game has been around its single player story, not the multiplayer. So, if having a multiplayer game mode would tarnish the single player experience, then no thanks.
The Last of Us has never been about the multiplayer so everyone who is an actual fan of the game should respect your decision
— Jada ? (@sharkgir1) September 27, 2019
However, if multiplayer is going to come later down the road, is it going to be in the form of its own standalone game or DLC? If Naughty Dog ends up doing that and charging extra for the separate multiplayer, that would bring a whole another level of hell upon them.
It would be interesting to see how the developer plays its cards in the months after release and what sort of multiplayer experience we do get, if there is any. What are your thoughts on the omission of multiplayer from The Last of Us 2? Is it a deal breaker for you or do you just care about the story? Let us know down in the comments below!