The most innocent of digital breadcrumbs can sometimes reveal the grandest of feasts. But, sometimes, these small bits of information are too on point to ignore.
Case in point, a delectable tidbit that The Last of Us Part 2 is, indeed, preparing for a grand entry onto the PlayStation 5, straight out of the LinkedIn profile of a Naughty Dog developer.
While these digital platforms are usually reserved for job hunts and corporate networking, this time around, it’s serving a delectable dish for cybersleuths scurrying around, looking for the next big meal.
Enter Mark Pajarillo, a lead outsource artist at Naughty Dog. His LinkedIn profile briefly flaunted his work on both “The Last of Us: Part One” and “The Last of Us 2: Remastered.” As expected, the little oversight was promptly corrected, but it wasn’t before the more sharp-eyed fans caught wind of it. But, as the saying goes, you can’t unturn someone who’s already been infected.
It’s safe to say that not everyone is happy with the news. The Last of Us Part 2 only graced the PlayStation 4 three years ago. To some, it’s still too early for a possibly refurbished version to come to the PS5. Besides, it wasn’t too long ago that Naughty Dog proclaimed that it was releasing a “remake” of the first game on the PS5 and the PC only for it to be less than satisfactory, especially on the PC.
The bitter aftertaste of The Last of Us Part 1’s PC part lingers to this date after Naughty Dog “vowed” to fix it following its launch earlier this year. To date, the award-winning game still has a 6/10 rating on Steam, an indicating that Naughty Dog still falls short of its initial promises.
If nothing else, we’re expecting the bells to come ringing again as critics start calling The Last of Us Part 2’s PS5 and PC port a “cash cow.”
If priced at $70 on the PS5 and the PC, Naughty Dog will find itself attracting more backlash than ever, especially in light of the news of the recent lay-offs that recently took place over at the first-party Sony studio.
Skepticism aside, a properly priced PS5 remaster of The Last of Us Part 2 wouldn’t be the worst idea. What if it manages to erase the pesky loading times by ttruly harnessing the power of the PS5’s proprietary SSD? If you throw in enhanced lighting and reflections as well as an overall immersive experience with the DualSense’s haptic feedback, then we’re in for quite the treat. Sony could make it more palatable by offering it as a $10 upgrade for PS5 owners who already have a copy of The Last of Part 2, which is a significant chunk of them.
We only need to reflect upon Sony’s earlier work with Marvel’s Spider-Man: Remastered and Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End to find a successful template that this controversial project could emulate.
But hold on; why stop at just gameplay enhancements? Timing is everything. With HBO’s The Last of Us Season 2 likely to hit our screens in the mid-2020s, could this PS5 remaster be strategically timed to launch alongside a new trailer? It would be a masterstroke, for sure, but that would make for too long of a wait. With HBO’s The Last of Us snagging so many award nominations, we wouldn’t put it past Naughty Dog to drop the reveal trailer for the PS5 remaster of The Last of Us Part 2 as part of the celebration.
Of course, in an ideal world, Naughty Dog would drop a trifecta – an accolades trailer for HBO’s The Last of Us, a trailer for Season 2 of the live-action adaptation, and the official announcement of The Last of Us Part 2 on the PS5 and the PC.
Unfortunately, until otherwise confirmed, all of this is akin to water cooler gossip. We might have “proof” that Naughty Dog was, at some point, working on The Last of Us Part 2, but that isn’t indicative that it’s still in development.
Don’t forget, Naughty Dog was previously working on the multiplayer portion of The Last of Us Part 2 only to cancel it and turn it into its own game, which is now apparently “on ice” as well.f
But, just in case you haven’t played The Last of Us Part 2 yet and you’re thinking of picking up a PS5 anytime soon (and you live in the US), Sony is giving away a free copy of the game. Although with Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 coming out on October 20, you might want to get either Marvel’s Spider-Man: Remastered or Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales instead.
