The Last of Us Factions is still in development, Naughty Dog confirms

The Last of Us 2 Ellie in combat — (Image credit: Sony Interactive Entertainment + Naughty Dog)

The return of The Last of Us Factions is still being worked on, Naughty Dog has confirmed.

Over the past weekend, celebrations rang out across the internet for Outbreak Day, which in the world of The Last of Us takes place on September 26. To celebrate Outbreak Day, Naughty Dog posted an update online regarding the Factions multiplayer mode of The Last of Us, revealing that they're still developing the mode for The Last of Us 2.

"In short, we’re working on it," Naughty Dog developer Rochelle Snyder revealed in a blog post, before linking to the original statement on the Factions mode from 2019 seen just below. In other words, Naughty Dog is reasserting that their priority was always shipping The Last of Us 2, before turning their attention to the spin-off multiplayer mode, which they're now doing.

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An update regarding multiplayer: pic.twitter.com/CUd98LgJGCSeptember 27, 2019

"For now, we’ll say that we love what the team is developing and want to give them time to build out their ambitious project, we’ll reveal more when it’s ready!" the post from Snyder continues. "To that end, we’ve been busy growing our team inside the kennel since The Last of Us Part 2 launched and are currently in full swing of hiring for MP-related positions."

Factions was originally featured as the built-in multiplayer mode of The Last of Us back in 2013, and had a pretty steady player base, hence the continued attention around the mode for the sequel. A job listing earlier this year seemed to indicate Naughty Dog was working on a live-service multiplayer game, and the hiring push for said game continued until as recently as August, before now being put front and centre by Naughty Dog once again. It could be a while before we see anything of the Factions revival from Naughty Dog, but it's a relief to know it's coming.

Hirun Cryer is a freelance reporter and writer with Gamesradar+ based out of U.K. After earning a degree in American History specializing in journalism, cinema, literature, and history, he stepped into the games writing world, with a focus on shooters, indie games, and RPGs, and has since been the recipient of the MCV 30 Under 30 award for 2021. In his spare time he freelances with other outlets around the industry, practices Japanese, and enjoys contemporary manga and anime.