The Last of Us Standalone Multiplayer Title Could be Free-to-Play, According to New Job Listing

Following The Last of Us Part 1’s release, Naughty Dog’s next big project is arguably its standalone multiplayer title set in the same universe. Very few details have been revealed, but it could be a free-to-play title.

A new job listing for Live Ops Producer has been posted with the studio hiring for its “major new multiplayer title.” Though it doesn’t outright confirm the title will be free-to-play, it is seeking “experience in a production role supporting a AAA, free-to-play, live title.” Customer and player support, community management, and experience with networking, online, or server processes are also cited as bonus skills.

A free-to-play model would fit with a report by Giant Bomb’s Jeff Grubb, where he noted the game to be “very, very live service-y. They’re building all the services in, so they can, like, swap in huge parts of it, in and out. That’s what they’ve been working on and trying to make it bigger and bigger and more ambitious.”

The only official details that have been confirmed are that it will take place in a different part of the United States and have its own story and characters. It’s also very ambitious and “as big as any of the single-player games that we’ve done and in some ways bigger” as per Naughty Dog co-president Neil Druckmann. We’ll see a “lot more” of it next year, though it’s unknown whether it will launch by then, as Grubb’s report suggested.

As always, stay tuned for more details. In the meantime, Naughty Dog is collaborating with a new internal development team created with PlayStation Studios Visual Arts on a “high visibility project.”