A Fortnite battle pass designer has joined Naughty Dog, leading some TLoU fans to believe the Factions multiplayer game will feature a similar system.
Naughty Dog originally intended to ship The Last of Us’ all-new Factions experience alongside TLoU Part II in 2020. Ahead of the sequel’s release, however, the studio chose to focus all of its efforts on the narrative campaign.
Since then, few details about Factions have surfaced, though Naughty Dog did confirm during Summer Game Fest 2022 that it would offer a standalone experience.
Job listings in recent months have hinted at the project’s status as a free-to-play game. Now it seems the résumé of a new hire may provide another clue about Factions’ content model.
Could TLoU Factions feature a battle pass system?
Naughty Dog recently hired former Fortnite designer Anders Howard to serve as the studio’s Principal Monetization Designer. Most notably, Howard played an integral part in the development of Fortnite’s battle pass strategy.
Since Factions counts as the TLoU crew’s only known multiplayer project, fans and pundits believe Howard’s hire means it could boast a battle pass of some kind.
Subscribe to our newsletter for the latest updates on Esports, Gaming and more.
As of writing, neither Howard nor Naughty Dog has specified what exactly his new role at the studio will involve.
Considering the live-service rumors that cropped up several months ago, Howard’s addition to the team makes sense.
VentureBeat’s Jeff Grubb claimed during a Summer Game Fest stream that the multiplayer project’s long incubation period is due to the team’s building technology that best befits a Naughty Dog-style live-service experience.
Grubb also alleged it won’t have much in common with the original Factions multiplayer mode. If true, that could explain why studio Co-President Neil Druckmann didn’t mention a title for the game during his Summer Game Fest appearance.
When more concrete details about the standalone will surface presently remains to be seen.
