The Last of Us 2 battle royale mode may have been in the works, unearthed multiplayer files suggest

Naughty Dog could've once been working on a battle royale mode for The Last of Us 2, judging from some newly unearthed multiplayer assets.

In a new video from prolific The Last of Us 2 dataminer Speclizer, we can see what seems to be a prop displaying a big multiplayer map with several locations from The Last of Us 2's single-player campaign including Adler Park, Camallito, and Port of Camallito. The map also includes several points of interest like Gas Station, Nature Center, Estate, and Motel.

It's not just the size and layout of the map that suggests a The Last of Us 2 battle royale mode may have been in the works. As Speclizer points out, the hidden multiplayer files also revealed other genre trademarks including a compass, player count, and emote wheel.

The Last of Us 2 was originally supposed to have an online multiplayer component at launch, but Naughty Dog shelved it to focus on the single-player experience. At the time, the studio confirmed that a Factions successor was still in development in some form, but that it wouldn't be part of The Last of Us 2. The most common assumption seems to be that Factions 2 will be a standalone release set in the same universe as The Last of Us 2.

Back in March, Naughty Dog job listings surfaced describing the studio's upcoming multiplayer title in rather live-servicey terms like "game economy and player progression systems." Though, without anything official from Naughty Dog, it's best not to get too ahead of our skis here.