(Read the following paragraph in your best movie trailer guy voice)

In a world when The Last of Us was released in 2013, received a Remaster on the PS4 in 2014, and a sequel in 2020, it appears, according to Bloomberg, that we will be receiving a REMAKE of the Naughty Dog classic in the near future on the PS5.

But first, do we have some juicy PlayStation drama for you! So it seems that Sony wants to focus solely on blockbuster games. While Days Gone was a successful game, it wasn’t as successful as say, The Last of Us franchise. Which means no Days Gone 2 for us.

Ok, back to the main story. Have you ever heard of Sony’s Visual Arts Service Group? Maybe you have. They often help other PlayStation Studios finish games, work on cinematics, pretty much do whatever they need to help push a game to completion.

Well it seems that the San-Diego based team was ready to spread their wings and take control of their own fate. Michael Mumbaer, once the head of VASG and other higher ups decided 3 years ago to recruit 30 devs to start a new team that would expand ‘expand upon’ Sony’s biggest franchises. They choose to begin remaking The Last of Us so it could be packaged with The Last of Us Part II on the PS5.

Sony never approved of this decision, nor did they give it any type of budget. But eventually they did. The project became known as T1X. So when the team was ready to show Sony their hardwork, the Sony-shuffle was going on. The story goes that Herman Hulst, the new head of PlayStation Studios, rejected it because of the expected development cost the game would require improving the graphics and game design to PS5 standards.

Once The Last of Us Part II was pushed to 2020, VASG had to help assist in getting the game finished. Worked slowed on the TLOU Remake. Then comes the crazy part. Sony moved the Remake project to Naughty Dog, once again making VASG nothing more than assist group on a major project.

Most of the higher ups working on the Remake left, with the remainder of the team assisting Naughty Dog on what was once their project to control.

What’s the future of The Last of Us Remake? Could it be finished in time for old and new fans to enjoy when the HBO series goes starts in what many expect to be 2023?

I can’t even lie, as much as I love the original The Last of Us, I would definitely play it again with improved graphics and gameplay. Is it needed? The Brah definitely feels the resources could be used elsewhere but I’m not the one calling shots at PlayStation.

You can read the full story at Bloomberg, along with how this entire situation has impacted Bend Studio.

[Source]