Will the The Last of Us multiplayer game come to PC?

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Factions began as a TLOU2 mode, but now it's much bigger.

Concept art for a Last of Us multiplayer game.
(Image credit: Naughty Dog)

Earlier today a long-rumoured remake of The Last Of Us leaked shortly before the official announcement, with the big news being that it's in development for PC. But Naughty Dog wasn't finished there, and during Geoff Keighley's game jamboree it announced a new standalone The Last of Us multiplayer game.

This game was already somewhat known about. It was supposed to be the multiplayer mode for The Last of Us 2, with the subtitle 'Factions', and arrive as a substantial addition after launch.

"One of the things we mentioned a while back is what started as a multiplayer mode has evolved beyond the teams' ambition," said Naughty Dog's Neil Druckmann. "And we felt the way to do it justice is to make it a standalone title."

Druckman says it's been in full development for two years, and showed some concept art. "This game is big, it's as big as any of our singleplayer games and in some ways bigger. It's got a story, and the way we're telling that story is very unique to this game."

There will be more news next year: unsurprisingly, Druckmann didn't clarify what platforms it would be coming to. But one thing that is almost certain is that this will have elements of live service to it (CEO Jim Ryan is very keen on this being at the core of PlayStation's multiplayer experiences) and that makes it an attractive candidate for a PC version.

As the recent quickfire announcements of Spider-Man and TLOU Part 1 show, Sony wants to have a much bigger presence on the platform, and this seems like an obvious fit, though we're still waiting to hear if The Last of Us Part 2 will come to PC, too.

The listing says The Last of Us Part 1 is "a total overhaul" of the original, "faithfully reproduced but incorporating modernized gameplay, improved controls and expanded accessibility options." It also promises "improved effects and enhanced exploration and combat."

The Last of Us was already remastered once, but I guess this is the afterlife for any suitably high-profile and successful game these days. Sony has said that it's going to be making a big push on PC following the success of releases like God of War, and Spider-Man and now this suggest that exciting times are coming indeed.

Rich Stanton
Rich Stanton
Senior Editor

Rich is a games journalist with 15 years' experience, beginning his career on Edge magazine before working for a wide range of outlets, including Ars Technica, Eurogamer, GamesRadar+, Gamespot, the Guardian, IGN, the New Statesman, Polygon, and Vice. He was the editor of Kotaku UK, the UK arm of Kotaku, for three years before joining PC Gamer. He is the author of a Brief History of Video Games, a full history of the medium, which the Midwest Book Review described as "[a] must-read for serious minded game historians and curious video game connoisseurs alike."