Is ‘The Last of Us’ being remastered *again*? Unpack Sony’s bizarre decision
Through the latest Bloomberg report, Sony announced yesterday they’re currently working on a new remaster to the now popular title The Last of Us.
Developed by the company Naughty Dog and released for the Playstation 3 in 2013, the survival horror game follows Joel as he and young straggler Ellie fight their way through a zombie apocalypse, learning more about themselves and each other as they go.
The Last of Us quickly became popular due to both its engaging story and horrifying visuals, getting both a remastered version of the first game and a sequel, The Last of Us Part 2, shortly after release.
This might be why fans are confused over the announcement, wondering if this new remaster will bring anything new to the already engaging game. Luckily, we tracked this zombifying conversation through the internet and picked up what we could about the new remastered version. Grab your shotguns and let’s dive into what we know about The Last of Us remastered.
Why so soon?
One of the biggest questions fans are asking about this remastered version of The Last of Us seems to be concerning why this is happening at all. According to Bloomberg, a group of thirty developers were recruited to create a new development team within Sony with the intention of expanding some of their more popular franchises, including The Last of Us, as well as create new games.
Unfortunately, Sony didn’t acknowledge the hard work this group did, moving the project to the original creator of the game, Naughty Dog with staff from the studio taking over the project from the group in question shortly after they were assigned to the project. This was after the team had been attempting to create their own franchise but were then told to stop and make the remaster their priority.
The team has since disbanded, but Naughty Dog continues to work on the remaster to match the new graphical engine of the PlayStation 5, which some speculate may be why Sony is focusing so much on remasters over new franchises.
What would improve?
Another big question many seem to be asking is: what exactly will improve about the game after this remaster? It appears the graphics & visuals are the biggest change with a few potential bug fixes being included in the remaster.
This has many people wondering why this is the focus of the remaster, as the first remaster of the first game already improved the visuals from the original release version of the game. Many point out the disparity between this new remaster and previous ones on games such as Diablo 2 Resurrected, with that remaster offering a more transformative shift in the visuals due to its release in 2000. Here, they argue, there is little to improve, taking on the mindset of the old saying: “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”.
Is it even worth it?
Many are arguing against this remaster, stating how it feels as if Sony is giving these smaller companies busywork to help push more content into the new PlayStation 5 system versus creating new franchises.
With the issues surrounding the team originally tasked with the remaster as well as fan reactions being lackluster at best, we can’t help but agree with those sentiments that this may not be worth Sony’s time. Still, if you’re a fan of the franchise, this remaster may still get the blood pumping in the same way killing the zombies within the game does.
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