Sony has been pretty clear about its intention to make a big splash in the live-service market. During an earnings call this past February, chief financial officer Hiroki Totoki explained that the Bungie acquisition was strategic: Sony intends to leverage the studio’s expertise in live service to develop a slate of games - ten in total - by 2026. At the time, Totoki referenced a “major new IP” that was already in development, presumably Bungie’s next game which is rumored to launch in 2025, but didn’t offer any specifics about these planned live service games. At the time, the only upcoming multiplayer games we were aware of from Sony were Twisted Metal and The Last of us Part 2’s standalone multiplayer mode, colloquially known as Factions 2.

During this week’s Summer Game Fest showcase, Naughty Dog co-president Neil Druckmann took to the stage to offer something of an update on Factions 2. Druckmann shared some concept art for the game and explained that, while the studio still isn’t ready to show us the game, the initial idea has expanded dramatically. Druckman says it will be “as big as any of our single player games, and in some ways bigger.” If there was any doubt that this wouldn’t be one of Sony’s upcoming live-service games, Druckmann certainly put that idea to rest. There’s simply no way that Sony is investing this kind of time and money into a multiplayer game in 2022 unless it's part of its big live-service initiative, and the sooner we reckon with that, the better.

I’m a huge sucker for live-service, but I know a lot of people - particularly fans of Sony’s prestige single-player experiences - consider it a four-letter word. While it’s safe to assume that Naughty Dog will forge its own path in the live service space, we should also be prepared for the usual trappings of the model to make their way into the next TLOU game. That means free-to-play, daily challenges, seasonal events, maybe even loot boxes. No matter how Naughty Dog decides to approach live-service, we at least know one thing: it will be frequently, and repeatedly, monetized.

While it's wise to scrutinize the way live-service games monetize, it’s important to understand that it’s necessary. Naughty Dog invested a fortune of development time and resources into multiplayer modes in Uncharted 2, 3, 4, and The Last of Us, and people loved them… for a month or two, maybe a year, before they moved on to other games. Without a steady stream of content, multiplayer games have a distressingly short shelf-life. Unfortunately even a mega-successful studio like Naughty Dog can’t just keep creating new content while making more money to fund development, and no one is making one-time-purchase competitive multiplayer games anymore. If you really can’t understand why, look at how many people are playing Star Wars Squadrons today.

If you’re especially averse to live-service games, keep in mind that Sony is partnering with Bungie to help shape their live-service games. Though not without controversy, it's fair to say Destiny 2 has one of the most reasonable live service models out there. I’m still in awe of how much content Bungie is able to produce each season for only $10, which includes a traditional battle pass, a seasonal storyline, and new activities and game modes. Overall, monetization in Destiny 2 is unobtrusive. You can buy cosmetics - some that can’t otherwise be earned - but you’re never incentivized to buy power or spend money to save time like a lot of free-to-play games. Content Vaulting, Bungie’s practice of removing older content from the game on an annual basis, is a real problem, but it’s also a uniquely Destiny problem that I would hope every studio has now learned to avoid.

I don’t know what Factions 2 will be or how we’ll pay for it, but I’m excited at the prospect of a living TLOU game that I can invest my time in and watch as it evolves over many years. This is what I want for all my multiplayer games. As excited as I am about Splatoon 3, I’d be a lot more enthusiastic if I didn’t already know it would be completely abandoned by Nintendo two years from now. We should want Naughty Dog to continue building and improving its multiplayer game for as long as players are still enjoying it. We just have to accept that that means we’re going to keep paying for it.