Naughty Dog Turns Towards Fortnite; Studio's Interesting Plans
The upcoming installment of The Last of Us could be a game along the lines of Fortnite. Naughty Dog's hiring of a monetization specialist, who boasts an interesting portfolio, suggests so.
The Last of Us Factions - a multiplayer spin-off to the TLoU series - is in the pipeline. The official information does not reveal much, but the indications of three levels of armor, potential F2P model and huge maps, seem to paint a picture of a battle royale game. Another news indicates a continuation of the direction taken by Naughty Dog for its new game.
The Last of Us with Fortnite DLC
Anders Howard, who previously worked for eight years at Epic Games, found employment at Naughty Dog as a monetization specialist. Moreover, Anders made a name for himself at the former company as a senior systems designer, with the development of the groundwork for the Battle Pass progression system for Fortnite.
The information may suggest the appearance of a similar pass in the latest The Last of Us. The work of Anders and other developers from the former studio helped make Fortnite one of the most popular F2P games available on the market. The experience acquired could help Naughty Dog achieve similar success, especially since The Last of Us: Part II brought the studio a bit of bad publicity due to the the controversy.
At the moment, the The Last of Us Factions project is a bunch of scraps of information. It is likely to be a live-service game, focusing on multiplayer gameplay. The title is expected to have a storyline, which may bring to mind the conversation system from, for example, Left 4 Dead. Thanks to a partnership with publisher Iron Galaxy, the studio's latest game may simultaneously come out for PlayStation 5 and PCs. The release of TLoU Factions is scheduled for 2023.
