Footage has appeared online, a possible leak of a multiplayer mode of The Last Of Us Part II; dubbed “The Last Of Us Part II Factions.”
The game had been subjected two numerous delays, and major cutscenes from the game leaking. The latter of which made many feel the game would have an unsatisfying conclusion. After release and even in-context, this has only grown worse.
After the game’s launch on June 19th, the game’s user review score started an average of 3.3 out of 10 from over 16,000 user reviews in the first 24 hours. As of August 6th, this eventually grew to 5.6 out of 10 from over 138,000 user reviews [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12].
A petition asking Naughty Dog to “Remake the storyline of The Last Of Us Part II” launched in late June, which was completed and now sits at over 55,000 signatures.
When Metacritic placed a 36 hour grace period on user reviews for new video games, many theorized it was due to the game’s negative reception. A Metacritic spokesperson would later state the decision was not motivated by reactions to any particular game.
Now history may repeat itself. YouTube channel TheIrishlizard has posted a video of what they call “The Last Of Us Part II Factions.” Based on the footage, it appears to be a multiplayer version of The Last Of Us Part II.
Despite the low-resolution, we can see what appears to be a 4 v 4 multiplayer match, complete with a mini-map in the top left. It appears to be some form of deathmatch, as the message “4 vs 2” appears at the end of the video. We also see player names above character’s heads. You can find the video below.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-wF4lcfQkvk
While the footage appears legitimate- we must consider that it could be faked (and passed off by a third party as legitimate to TheIrishlizard). The low resolution could be hiding poor graphics, and the game may be a mod of the original game or another game entirely.
If it is legitimate, it also begs whether this data was obtained when information on the game leaked the first time around, or if this is a fresh leak. It also brings up more questions about Naughty Dog’s security, or if there is a disgruntled employee. You can find our report discussing if the first leak was due to an employee here.
What do you think? Is it legitimate? Will it be DLC or an update to The Last Of Us Part II? Will it be a stand-alone title?
Sound off in the comments below!
The Last of Us Part II is available now for PlayStation 4.
