A dataminer has discovered files for The Last of Us 2 multiplayer, revealing some hints about what could be coming to the unreleased multiplayer game — and it might include Battle Royale gameplay.
The Last of Us 2 has been out for quite some time now, but it launched with the absence of a key component: multiplayer. Naughty Dog told players that it would release The Last of Us 2 multiplayer as a standalone experience at a later date back in 2019.
Since then, things have been relatively quiet on the multiplayer front. However, a YouTuber named Speclizer has since explored the game's files (via ResetEra) and discovered quite a few interesting tidbits including what appears to be a much larger map than we're used to.
Datamine Reveals The Last of Us 2 Multiplayer Details
The Last of Us 2 multiplayer datamine has uncovered a few key pieces of information, one of which is a particularly large map shown as an object in the game. The previous game had a multiplayer mode and some of the maps could be pretty large (such as Financial Plaza), but the scale of the map for the sequel seems much larger than that.
This physical map object was one of the items discovered by Speclizer. He highlights several points of interest on the map and notes how they correspond to in-game locations from the single-player experience. However, many of these locations are not actually next to one another in the game, so Speclizer speculates that this multiplayer map would actually be several single-player maps stitched together.
Most of the video focuses on the map and the associated locations, but that's far from the only item that was discovered. An object called "Listen-Mode-Device" was discovered in the files, suggesting that it may be required for using Listen Mode in multiplayer. (Listen Mode functionality was available in the first game's multiplayer, albeit with an energy bar limiting its duration).
Another somewhat murkier discovery was an item simply called "Collar." This might indicate that dogs would be featured in multiplayer in some fashion, but the evidence isn't quite as clear for this particular item. Speclizer also discovered a "Handheld-TV," although he couldn't quite figure out what it might be used for in the game.
Speclizer also found several backpack and armor models that he wasn't able to restore. These included helmets and armor with three levels each and backpacks labeled as assault, melee, sniper, stealth, support, and tactical; these six backpack types suggest that a class-based system may be in the works.
Is The Last of Us 2 Battle Royale in Development?
That's it for the video, but there was one thing that wasn't mentioned in it — a comment from the video's creator notes that there is both a compass and a player count detailed in the files, both of which he believes are indicators of a Battle Royale game mode. The reveal of what appears to be a much larger multiplayer map is an additional piece of evidence on this front.
So, is The Last of Us 2 Battle Royale on the way? Well, we genuinely can't say for certain — there certainly aren't enough actual assets to indicate if this has been seriously developed with the intention to release it or whether it was simply an internal experiment. We haven't heard much about The Last of Us 2 multiplayer at all lately, so it's unlikely we'll have any definitive answers until Naughty Dog decides to tell us more.
It is worth remembering that datamined content is not a guarantee of anything either. It can often be discarded ideas, or represent early efforts that change over time.
We'll likely be waiting for some time to enjoy The Last of Us 2 multiplayer, but you can still check out a pretty good single-player experience right now. Best of all, the game is currently on sale — you can buy a physical copy of The Last of Us 2 for 50% off on Amazon or a digital copy for 25% off on the PlayStation Store.
Disclosure: Amazon works with TechRaptor for affiliate partnership, and TechRaptor earns a small commission off purchases made from some links in this article.
Would you want to play The Last of Us 2 Battle Royale multiplayer? What's your favorite Battle Royale game these days? Let us know in the comments below!
