Naughty Dog reportedly working on The Last of Us battle royale

With the rise of battle royale titles such as Warzone and Apex Legends dominating the gaming industry, a new leak suggests that Naughty Dog might be working on their own one for their massive hit The Last of Us.

While the first The Last of Us game had a multiplayer mode, both TLOU and TLOU2 were heavily driven by their single-player campaigns, which are both considered among the best ever made.

Fans loved the Factions multiplayer mode in the first Last of Us iteration, but it didn’t return for the second, with Naughty Dog explaining that the campaign was “the most ambitious project” they’ve ever done, and as such The Last of Us 2 would not include an online mode.

It did leave a cryptic message to fans, though, saying that “you will eventually experience the fruit of our team’s online ambition, but not as part of The Last of Us Part II.”

Now, almost two years on, that vision that Naughty Dog have of their online ambition could be closer than ever, as a leaker has discovered multiplayer assets hidden in the game’s files.

• Read More: What we know about The Last of Us HBO TV show

Some of the findings in Speclizer’s video suggest that a battle royale mode for the game either is or was in the works, though it’s impossible to tell whether this is still being worked on.

The leaked files include an in-game map featuring some of the iconic locations from the regular The Last of Us campaigns, a ‘listen mode’ device, a collar, a handheld TV and more. Their uses aren’t entirely clear.

Other files include varied levels of helmet, such as those you find in Apex Legends, backpack and armor models, among other things.

Where Naughty Dog are at with this multiplayer game is entirely unknown. It could be that this project is still a work in progress, which would be massively exciting news for The Last of Us fans.

If not, though, it’s hard for TLOU players to be disappointed, especially after how great both single-player campaigns were.