A job listing shows that Naughty Dog chose to set Factions aside in an effort to focus on completing the single-player experience.
The studio explained that its vision for a new version of the online suite had grown too ambitious during development. Thus, whenever it resurfaces, it will do so as a presumably standalone experience separate from The Last of Us Part II. Naughty Dog confirmed as much in a statement to fans back in September of 2019. Since then, apart from a few seeming winks and nods, Factions hasn't received so much as a tease. Yet TLoU co-creator and studio co-president, Neil Druckmann, recently divulged Naughty Dog is working on "several cool things" that everyone is eager to share.
As spotted by GameSpot, a job listing on Naughty Dog's "Careers" page shows the Santa Monica-based crew is currently hiring for an economy designer, someone who can "design, implement, and tune game economy and player progression systems." The posting goes on to note that whomever is brought into the fold with the "Live Ops team" to help create self-expression for players. Other points of interest appear in the job summary, which states that Naughty Dog wants to "ensure robust longevity" for its games, as well as give players "great rewards to strive for."
All of the above indicates Naughty Dog could have at least one team hard at work on building a live-service experience. And it stands to reason this particular project is Factions-related. Regardless of the finer details, though, this may represent a marked departure for Naughty Dog, which has only ever attached online components to existing single-player adventures.
A potential live-service from a first-party development crew would also constitute a big step for PlayStation 3 owned Sony's online focus, though only for a while. It'll be interesting to see how Naughty Dog flips the script in this regard.
The Last of Us Part II is available to play now on PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5.
Source: Naughty Dog, GameSpot
