Last Week In PlayStation #8 | The Last Of Us Remake Is Real, Part II Sells 10 Million Copies, And God Of War Ragnarok Targeting A November Release
A round-up of last week’s PlayStation news.
Hello and welcome to the eighth edition of Last Week In PlayStation, the weekly PlayStation newsletter here on platyview.com.
Publishing every Monday evening India time (early evening Central European time and late morning Pacific time), the series will round up all of last week’s PlayStation news and other happenings into one single article.
This edition will cover all PlayStation news from the 6th of June ‘2022 to the 12th of June ‘2022.
After a week’s break, Last Week In PlayStation is finally back. I was on holiday, and even though I went with the expectation of being able to write a lot during my time away from home, I didn’t even write a single word.
And to add salt to the wound, this article is coming out a day late. Well isn’t that something? But denial is a beautiful thing so let’s ignore my overly flexible schedule and take a look at what went down in the world of PlayStation last week.
The Last Of Us Info Dump
“I guess no matter how hard you try, you can’t escape your past.”
- Joel Miller
1. The Last Of Us Remake Comes To PS5 In September, PC Version In Development
Alas, it is finally here. The long rumoured The Last of Us Remake is real, and it’s coming out very soon. During Geoff Keighley’s Summer Games Fest, PlayStation announced The Last of Us Part I for PS5- a ‘complete remake’ of Joel and Ellie’s beloved 2013 adventure.
The game is set to release on PS5 on the 2nd of September this year, with a PC version promised for somewhere down the line.
NaughtyDog claims ‘modernized gameplay, improved controls, and expanded accessibility options’ are a part of this remade package, along with enhanced ‘effects, exploration, and combat’. The remake will include the base game and its Left Behind DLC, but — just like the Uncharted remasters — will not have multiplayer.
From the game’s announcement trailer and screenshots, along with side-by-side comparisons with the original, the upgraded visuals in The Last of Us Part I on PS5 look incredible. Whether the game still plays like the PS4 remaster or like 2020’s The Last of Us Part II is yet to be seen.
What is egregious though is the price tag attached to it. The game will cost 70 USD/ 80 Euros/ 4,999 INR/ 7,900 Japanese Yen when it releases this fall, and frankly, that is steep pricing for a game from 2013 whose PS4 remaster still holds up incredibly well.
But kudos to Sony for bringing the game to PC. It’s a shame the launch isn’t simultaneous across platforms, similar to the Uncharted Legacy of Thieves Collection.
If you recall, during Sony’s Business Segment Briefings, SIE President Jim Ryan noted that the company expects net sales on PC to rise from $80 million in FY21 to $300 million in FY22. We know Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves Collection, Marvel’s Spider-Man and Miles Morales (I expect these two games to do remarkably well on PC, surpassing God of War’s numbers from earlier this year) are all coming to PC this year, and with The Last of Us Part I likely releasing on PC early next year, it is clear why Sony is predicting such high sales from its third most important platform behind PS5 and PS4.
2. The Last Of Us Part II Has Sold 10 Million Copies
There is more The Last of Us news and it’s certainly not the last.
2020’s The Last of Us Part II — the most decorated game of all time and sequel to the critically acclaimed 2013 original — has surpassed 10 million copies sold ‘as of this Spring’. These details were first revealed by NaughtyDog co-president Neil Druckmann during the Summer Games Fest and were confirmed over on the PlayStation Blog.
Going by the last official word on sales figures for The Last of Us on PS3 and PS4, by 2018 the game had sold 17 million copies. For Part II to reach more than half this number in only 2-years is something for the team at NaughtyDog to be proud of.
3. Long Teased The Last Of Us Factions Confirmed To Be Standalone Multiplayer
Here is one final piece of The Last of Us news, once again originating from Keighley’s Summer Games Fest and elaborated upon on the PlayStation Blog. The history of this “Factions” multiplayer mode for The Last of Us Part II is twisty-turny, so here is a recap courtesy of Dexerto.
When The Last of Us launched in 2013, it came with a multiplayer mode known as Factions. In the build-up to The Last of Us Part II, NaughtyDog confirmed that “an evolution” of this game mode would be coming with the sequel.
But in 2019, the prolific developer put out a statement that due to the size and scope of the project, TLOU Part II would not include a multiplayer mode. Instead, they reassured fans that a multiplayer experience of some sort for The Last of Us was coming.
Even when Part II was released in June of 2020, there was no word of this online game. Then in a blog post in 2021, the studio once again assured fans that a multiplayer component was still in development and we would hear about it once it was ready.
Now, at last week’s Summer Games Fest, alongside the announcement of The Last of Us Part I on PS5, Neil Druckmann provided an update on this mysterious project. There was even concept art!
This game is described as a ‘full-scale, standalone game, with [a] massive scope and immense world’. And of course, it’s a multiplayer experience. There is not much more to go by, expect a tease that ‘there will be more news to come next year’.
Sadly, it doesn’t look like this standalone multiplayer game — dubbed “Factions” — is coming out any time soon. Expect summer 2023 at the earliest. Let’s hope NaughtyDog can cook up something great yet again.
4. Troy Baker And Ashley Johnson To Feature In HBO’s The Last Of Us TV Show, Filming Also Wraps Up
I previously wasn’t at all interested in HBO’s upcoming The Last of Us TV show, but since I finished playing the game towards the end of May, I have been looking forward to the show’s release.
Now, we know that Troy Baker and Ashley Johnson — who played Joel and Ellie respectively in The Last of Us video game — are a part of the cast ‘in major roles’. While the two industry icons won’t be reprising their starring roles from the game, they will have a part to play in this new chapter of the franchise.
It has also been announced that Neil Druckmann ‘has taken on the roles of Executive Producer and Writer and also directed a full episode’ of the TV show, citing the spirit of collaboration and authenticity that HBO is aspiring to bring forth with this new series.
Oh, and check out this new sneak peek of the actors on set above!
In more TV show news, filming has wrapped up. PushSquare points out a tweet from the game’s Writer-Producer Craig Mazin that confirms this:
God Of War Ragnarok Reportedly Targetting A November 2022 Release
We may not have to wait too long to see Kratos and Atreus (sorry, I mean BOY) back in action. According to a report from Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier, the game is ‘planned for release this November’, citing ‘three people familiar with the game’s development’.
The report notes that the game has been delayed several times previously, ‘both publically and internally’, and that it was originally planned for September ‘but was recently bumped to November.
Another interesting point: Schreier points out that two people he spoke with said that a release date is expected to be announced later this month. This points to a State of Play or maybe a larger PlayStation showcase taking place towards the end of June. Or maybe just a blog post, tweet, and new trailer. I am certainly not complaining.
The game may still get delayed during the months ahead, compromising this rumoured release date. But as of now, it seems that God of War Ragnarok is still on track for November.
Other Bits And Pieces:
- Well, well, well. If it ain’t another oversimplified logo. The moment I heard Bend Studio was changing its logo, I expected a bland, basic, and uninspired design. And I don’t think I was wrong. Decide for yourself. This logo is supposedly ‘an abstract and modern interpretation of the studio’s history, location, and lifestyle’. There is more justification for this absurd logo change in a PlayStation Blog post. Bend, I know this is your logo and your studio, but come on! I do like how they went over the studio’s entire history with screenshots and concept art of previous games scattered throughout. Good job. I will now no longer comment on the logo change. There is also a line about their new game. We already knew that a Days Gone 2 pitch was shut down by PlayStation leadership and the studio is working on a new open-world game, but we now also know the game will ‘include multiplayer’ and ‘build upon the open-world systems of Days Gone’.
- PushSquare reports that Persona 3 Portable and Persona 4 Golden are coming to PS5. First announced for Xbox during the green team’s big summer showcase, we now have word that these two games will be making their way to PS5. No mention of PS4 though, and no mention of a release date either- but we can expect these games to release after 21st October, which is when Persona 5 Royal is launching on PC and Xbox.
And that is all for this week’s edition of Last Week In PlayStation. Thank you for reading and sticking around even after my self-induced week of absence. See you next Monday!
Hopefully, by then I would have finished my The Last of Us review and it will be live for you to read. Wait a minute, I need to start if I want to finish.
