Thanks to aNaughty Dogemployeeadding a reference to The Last of Us Part 2: Remastered to their LinkedIn, we have yet another source suggesting that aPS5exclusive version of the 2020 blockbuster is in the works. After the storm of discourse that kicked up around the idea of Naughty Dog remakingThe Last of Us Part 1less than a decade after its initial release, I’m bracing for a similar reaction to the company’s decision to revisit its most recent after just three years. But it’s that lack of time that pushes me to think this just isn’t that big of a deal.
When The Last of Us Part 1 was announced, it ignited a lot of talk about the state of the industry. Why was Naughty Dog revisiting The Last of Us when it was already available on PS5 in remastered form? Were slightly better graphics really worth the effort? What did it mean that the industry was perpetually looking backwards to its biggest hits with remakes and remasters instead of blazing new trails? Should Naughty Dog really be getting the resources for such an unnecessary project when Sony hadrecently shut down Japan Studio, which made games that deviated far more from triple-A norms?
Then there were the usual arguments about whether or not The Last of Us deserved its modern classic status, with the usual sides staking out the familiar territory. It’s a masterpiece! It sucks! We do this every time anything TLOU-related comes out, you know the drill. With Naughty Dog seemingly returning to The Last of Us Part 2 this close to release, it would be tempting to spin all those old debates back up again. And I’m sure some corners of the internet will.
But I can’t help but feel like it would be a lot of sound and fury over nothing. For one, there’s precedent for the kind of release The Last of Us Part 2: Remastered will probably be. As my colleague George Foster noted in his write-up on this accidental reveal, this isn’t the first piece of evidence to point to this game being in the works. TLOU composer Gustavo Santolallahinted at a new version of the game that would let players request specific songs from the character he played in Jackson, the settlement where Ellie and Joel live as the game begins. Combining that detail with the Remastered title gives us a picture of a fairly minor upgrade that improves the graphics and adds a small amount of content, not unlike what Kojima Productions did with Death Stranding: Director’s Cut. It would be different from the game of the year editions that games used to get, which packaged all the DLC in one box. The Last of Us Part 2 never got any major DLC, so there would be nothing to add.
More importantly, all of the old arguments about The Last of Us seem extremely unimportant in the face of25 Naughty Dog developers getting fired as the unnamed multiplayer game is reportedly put on ice. Though the closeness of this remaster to the original release is what will cause controversy, it’s the leaks’ proximity to those layoffs that brings the whole thing into stark relief. The bosses are hollowing the industry out from the top, treating the employees who make the games as disposable. The Last of Us isSony’s flagship gaming brand. It was just turned into an HBO series that was a huge hit and scored a bunch of Emmy nominations. Naughty Dog and Sony can afford to keep workers on, instead of joining the wave of layoffs caused by other bosses who would rather impoverish their workers than take a pay cut.
This likely isn’t what you expected to read when you clicked on an article about a potential The Last of Us Part 2 remaster, but I can’t help but see a Naughty Dog leak in light of Naughty Dog’s recent actions. I love Naughty Dog games, but ultimately it doesn’t matter what it makes next. As long as the workers who make it get to share in its success.
NEXT:Return To Monkey Island Pulls A Weirdly Gentle Take On The Last Of Us Part 2
