Before The Last of Us Part II was released, developers Naughty Dog confirmed that it wouldn’t include a multiplayer mode. But new information gathered from a dataminer has hinted at what was originally lined up for the game.
As part of the original The Last of Us game, Factions allowed players to pick from two clans, the Hunters or the Fireflies. These clans then battle it out against one another in teams of 12, playing one of three modes: Supply Raid, Survivors, or Interrogation.
During the development of The Last of Us Part II though, Naughty Dog shared an update saying the game wouldn’t include a multiplayer game mode because “the single player campaign is far and away the most ambitious project” they’d ever taken on.
An update regarding multiplayer: pic.twitter.com/CUd98LgJGC
— Naughty Dog (@Naughty_Dog) September 27, 2019
“Likewise, as development began on the evolution of Factions, the vision of the team grew beyond an additional mode that could be included,” the post continued, with Naughty Dog hinting at a standalone Factions game. A job advert from earlier this year added more fuel to the fire.
However it appears dataminer Speclizer has uncovered a few files in The Last of Us Part II that hint at a battle royale mode, and perhaps give players an indication of what a potential Factions-inspired game would include.
The most notable discovery is a map prop. “Considering how big this map is, there’s a huge chance it could be used for a battle royale mode,” writes Speclizer in the resulting video. The map includes locations such as Adler Park, Camallito and Port of Camallito which make it seem like any battle royale games would take place in an area created by several single player areas, merged together.
“Didn’t mention it in the video but in the development footage, there’s a compass and a player count which is usually only used in battle royales,” Speclizer wrote in a pinned comment accompanying the video. “Oh and there’s also an emote wheel script.”
Speclizer also claims to have found backpack and armour models, but has so far been unable to restore them.
In other news, it’s been announced that BloodRayne Betrayal: Fresh Bites will be released September 9. The reworked version of BloodRayne Betrayal comes a full decade after it was originally released.
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