Earlier this year, leaks claimed that a ground-up remake of The Last of Us was in development at Naughty Dog. Having started up with PlayStation Visual Arts as the lead studio with Naughty Dog allegedly overseeing development, it was claimed that the project shifted gears, with the latter becoming the lead developer and the former being reduced to a support role.
Unsurprisingly, there has been no official word from Sony or the developers involved about whether or not the project is real, but a new job listing might suggest that it is. A job ad posted for the contract position of Technical Game Designer at PlayStation Studios Visual Arts on LinkedIn seems to be focused on a game that will “implement existing gameplay systems into a new framework” and will improve “existing level scripts for interaction and engagement”.
The language in the listing seems to be suggesting that it pertains to a recreation of some sort for an existing game, while mention of melee and ranged combat is also worth noting. None of this is hard evidence that points to a remake of The Last of Us, of course, but it does seem to fall within that framework.
It’s been claimed that The Last of Us’ remake is being developed for the PS5 from the ground-up and will be more than just a simple visual upgrade, incorporating gameplay mechanics and features that were first introduced in The Last of Us Part 2.