Jason Schreier’s latest report on Bloomberg puts Sony’s first-party studios in the spotlight and reveals intriguing behind-the-scenes information, including the existence of a remake of The Last of Us.
The article focuses on the dissatisfaction of smaller groups within the PlayStation Studios, namely the San Diego-based Visual Arts Service Group, a support developer with ambitious goals.
According to the report, studio founder and senior director Michael Mumbauer (who left Visual Arts in November 2020) has been pushing to recreate one of Naughty Dog’s classic masterpieces. The original idea was to remake Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune, although the developers ultimately decided to choose The Last of Us because the game is much more modern and involves less work. For gamers, of course, this is essentially confirmation of a The Last of Us Remake in the works.
It’s surprising news to say the least, given that The Last of Us Remastered already exists for PlayStation 4 with 4K and HDR support on PS4 Pro (and PS5). However, Bloomberg’s report also sheds light on some of the issues facing the project, code-named T1X.
First of all, the budget requested by Visual Arts to develop this The Last of Us Remake was apparently considered too high by the newly appointed head of PlayStation Worldwide Studios Hermen Hulst. Additionally, when The Last of Us Part II was delayed, Sony recruited Visual Arts to help Naughty Dog complete the sequel.
In doing so, they promised Naughty Dog would return the favor, with several developers joining Visual Arts in the development of T1X as soon as The Last of Us Part II came out. In the end, Naughty Dog reportedly took charge of the project with Visual Arts again as a support studio, which disappointed Mumbauer and others, such as The Last of Us Remake director David Hall, and prompted them to leave.
As mentioned in the headline, the report also shares some news about Sony Bend. Despite Days Gone’s profitability, the studio’s pitch for a sequel was reportedly turned down in 2019. too ambitious), while most of Sony Bend was commissioned to develop a new Uncharted game under the supervision of Naughty Dog. However, the Sony Bend leaders eventually asked to be taken off the project and only recently got their wish, so they’ll be making another game of their own. The report does not make clear who is currently handling the aforementioned Uncharted project.
As a reminder, The Last of Us is being adapted into an HBO TV series, which is probably why Sony decided to give the green light to a remake despite the game already having a remastered release. As for Days Gone, the game will be out on PC this spring. Maybe if it’s successful enough on the platform, that could lead to a sequel at some point.
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