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The Last of Us 2 developer Naughty Dog is currently searching for a writer with experience producing "character-driven stories" to join the team.
According to the listing, the job requires someone to create "compelling stories and memorable characters for [the studio’s] upcoming projects" as well as cutscene and gameplay dialogue. As you’d expect from a Naughty Dog title, the person fit for the job must have experience crafting stories that are mostly character-driven, just like the developer’s biggest works: Uncharted and The Last of Us.
It was recently revealed through another job listing that Naughty Dog is working on "the studio’s first standalone multiplayer game." There’s a possibility that this could be The Last of Us 2: Factions - a multiplayer experience to accompany The Last of Us 2 - which was temporarily canceled but later revisited. This isn’t the only possibility for Naughty Dog however, as earlier this year The Last of Us director and studio co-president Neil Druckmann stated that the studio has "several cool things" in the works, meaning the new writer position could be for one of many upcoming projects.
Around that time there was also a flurry of other job positions posted by the studio, with Druckmann also teasing fans by tweeting "we're making something very cool!" alongside a link to some jobs. However these listings, along with some from the year before, all seemed to be for different games, with some being for a new single-player game and others for a live service multiplayer game.
Let’s also not forget that there have been plenty of promotions within the studio as of late, as well as the return of some familiar faces. This includes cinematic animator Shaun Escayg who put out a tweet confirming his return a few months ago and a subtle hint from former Call of Duty narrative lead Taylor Kurosaki last month, who may also be returning to the studio.
One possibility we can rule out though is a new Jak and Daxter game as Naughty Dog’s co-president Evan Wells sadly recently confirmed: "[Naughty Dog] do not have Jak and Daxter here in development right now." Whatever Naughty Dog does have up its sleeve though, it’s sure to have just as big of an impact on its players as The Last of Us 2 did - which at the start of this year overtook The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt to become the most awarded game ever.
