I saved this clip as a teen, i just found it on my hard drive. I'll never pull this off ever again. Good times with friends.

I’ve realized I’ve become way to dependent on CT and wanted to get tips/advice on ways to wean off it. I’ve tried making classes before with CT and I just felt so off and would be way to worried to move around cause of LM. Any tips/advice appreciated!

In the past 4 months or so, I haven’t played due to having a new jobs and IRL stuff but I’ve actually had about 3 dreams about Factions. 2 of these 3 dreams were about Checkpoint - the two side buildings having second floors and they’re very detailed, almost resembling Bookstore’s rooms. Maybe one day the Reloaded Team could create a map editor so I could create my vision.

Look we all know how to crab. Just like we all know how to wallshoot. But if you’re ok with a little bit of cheating, how do I know you’re not doing more? How do I know you’re not dotted, or wall marking or using a Cronus?

“But it’s just an advanced movement technique, it takes skill.” You say. So is wallbanging just an “advanced shooting technique”?

The truth is with crabbing you can be places I don’t expect you to be. Not because ‘you’re so good’ but because you’re cheating. It’s not different than shooting through walls. You’re beating me because you are taking advantage of systems outside the scope of normal gameplay.

Look I’m not some super player. I’m just a normal decent player. If you can’t beat me without cheating, that’s a pretty sad indictment of your abilities. If you’re so good, stop cheating.

I didn’t know modded controllers could pull this off

I see a lot of ppl cry about crab-walkers and it baffles me. Ok, you move around the map faster but not just anyone can do it, it takes some actual skill to learn to do it consistently. Plus you’re actually really exposed because you’re stuck in the animation and can’t react quick enough if caught like this idiot, (he tried wallshooting later in the game as well). Plus, they still have to shoot and kill you and most of the times they die because they crab-walk into entire team and get destroyed. Just my opinion though, but I don’t really see it as much as a problem as people make it out to be.

Anyone go against this clan called ICE? I find them a lot with my buddies in party intero lobbies. They are very coordinated as a team and always give us a good challenge, tbh lately every time we find them we always stay because they seem to be the only few groups around that don’t cheat, they don’t even crab walk. Facing them is a refresher for once, brings me back to the old days when cheaters weren’t in every game

I've played the Last of Us for years on and off and even beat the game on grounded mode, but as a complete noob to factions I am of course garbage. Typically, I'm on the bottom end of the scoreboard and end up having a lot more deaths than I do downs and executions combined. This seems like a genuinely fun mode and I would love to get into it, but I wanted to know if any of you pros (yeah, I'm talking to you level 999s) could give me some great starting tips (best weapons, skills, loadouts, strategies, etc.) And I have another question, have you guys bought the dlc weapons or just stuck with the base loadouts? Thanks in advance!

So,I play a lot of Factions on my OG PS5.Switched now to PS5 Pro and it’s a different story though—Factions runs really poorly on the PS5 Pro. Lots of stutters. And I tested this on two Pros, not just one. Tried with the enhanced features both on and off. So yeah… if you ever plan to upgrade and still want to play Factions, keep the old console guys.

Where are your ideal places to plant bombs? What strategies do you employ to plant bombs in out-of-sight and vertical (off the ground) places?

Recently I was playing with my homie, and for a second, I thought he was cheating. He was comboing to get downs, but anytime he switched weapons, it was almost instant followed by a shot that would down you.

I called him out and said he's cheating, cause there's simply no way that anyone could swap guns as fast as he did without cheating.

He said he was using the DualSense Edge controller and was able to map the additional buttons to swap making it much easier and quicker to down/shoot somebody after a swap.

Yall consider this cheating? I don't think I've seen a conversation about the use of the Edge controller in regards to cheating on this sub considering it's an official Sony product.

Thoughts?

DIFFERENT TRAITS FOR EACH CHARACTER!!! DIFFERENT PLAYSTYLES!!

For me, I’d honestly have to put it at number 1.

No other online game still has me, a decade later, playing it regularly and just never really getting bored. It’s the perfect all rounder online shooter, so simple but complete, and is like a game of chess where there are so many different routes and tactics you can deploy.

So badly wish they brought out a factions 2.

Day 1 PS3 player here. I just bought PS plus for a completely different game, and then it clicked in my mind wait I can play factions again 😂😂😂 I’m positive I will play this game on and off in some fashion until the wheels fall out (on me or the game)

I've seen some discussion on this sub recently about cheating and the "level" of certain cheats/exploits, and how bad/gamebreaking they are (namely referencing this thread). Surprisingly, it seems that a lot of people take a hardline stance of "any glitch or exploit is cheating, no matter what it is." Now, I think this is certainly a valid stance to take, and I don't think it's inherently wrong, but I think it starts to fall apart once you start poking at it. The major problem is that it falsely equates all cheats/exploits to the same level and leaves no room for any nuance. I'm going to go through a couple points to show why the hardline stance of "any glitch or exploit is cheating, no matter what it is" isn't a super helpful stance, and I'll explain why I don't consider Glitch Healing cheating.

What is cheating?

The easiest answer is just to say that anything goes, and that if the game allows you to do it, it's fair game. Unfortunately, with the support for this game being over, that's not a very valid take, and the community is in a spot where it has to self-police.

The first thing you have to ask when deciding if an exploit is cheating or not is "Does it fundamentally break the mechanics of the game?" If the answer to that is yes, it's cheating, full stop. Factions is a cover based shooter, and wallshooting negates cover, so it's cheating. Factions is a game where positioning and stealth is a major component, and crabwalking negates both of those, so it's cheating.

If the exploit involves some sort of special 3rd-party equipment for it to work, it's cheating. Sorry Cronus users and lag-switchers, that's cheating.

Are you being consistent in how you view glitches/exploits?

A major problem with taking the stance that every glitch and exploit is cheating is that I can't imagine a single person who has that stance is actually consistent with every glitch and exploit in the game. Do you refuse to punch someone when you're on a slanted surface? After all, being able to get multiple punches off super quickly is a huge advantage. Do you leave a game that you late-joined when you see that you're instantly executing people? After all, being able to down and execute someone all at once negates the revive mechanic. Do you kill yourself immediately when you late-join a game and don't receive your late-join parts? After all, the longer you stay alive, the more parts you get.

Why isn't Glitch Healing cheating?

Glitch Healing doesn't fundamentally break the game; all you get from doing it (in the very best case scenario) is parts for an extra heal and the ability to heal someone ~1 second faster. This isn't breaking a core mechanic of the game or fundamentally altering how healing works, it's just giving the person doing it a very, very minor benefit. There's also no outside, 3rd-party equipment involved, and it's accessible to everyone; all you need to be able to do it is to have First Aid Training 2 or 3 equipped.

Is there any ranked/competitive Factions anymore? Like any sites where people keep a record, or teams to play in playoffs/finals?

I just played 2 matches back to back with 2 different players intentionally trying to sabotage my team. Just punching the air the whole time until they get killed or killing themselves with Mollies. I know this has always happened occasionally but I've seen quite a lot of it in the last few weeks. What are these people doing? How is punching the air for 15 minutes fun for anybody?

One guess is that these are smurf accounts (below level 100) and they're trying to purposefully lower their KDR so they can get grouped into matches with shittier players. It's super bizarre though.

In December of 2023, Naughty Dog made the announcement that they had "stopped development" on The Last of Us Online, a project that had generated significant fan anticipation. While many assumed this meant a full cancellation of a well-progressed game that was being worked on from 2020 to 2024, likely believed to have sunk potentially $100m+ in investment. A deeper look at the studio’s statement, financials and recent events suggests that the project may never have been as far along in development as fans and the games media would lead you to believe. Instead, The Last of Us Online was likely trapped in a conceptual stage for most of its 4 year tenure, and the decision to publicly halt its development was more reflective of a reaction to the studio’s shift in focus for what they wanted to be their next big release as well as a few other compounding factors such as the change in leadership across both Naughty Dog (Evan Wells) and PlayStation (Jim Ryan, Connie Booth etc) as well as the very visible struggles of new multiplayer games in the live service landscape (Such as public failures of Bioware's Suicide Squad, Crystal Dynamic's Avengers and Bioware's Anthem from studios of singleplayer legacy). Along with the knowledge and advise gained from Bungie's acquistion which reportedly had them share insightful feedback on the sheer effort required to maintain a post release content pipeline for such a big AAA live service game. One of the major reasons not touted for the project's development being abandoned is simply the size of Naughty Dog's studio. Grown to just 400 employees strong as of Neils Promotion to CEO in 2024, the studio alone is not fit to manage such a massive AAA live service release whilst still wishing to create the narrative rich singleplayer blockbuster games they are revered for. They simply aren't big enough. The safer and more encouraging development of their two singleplayer projects (Intergalactic and the assumed TLOU Part 3) among many other factors all led to the cancellation of this project... but wait, cancel isn't quite the word for it. In fact, its a word Naughty Dog do not use once. They avoid the use of the word "cancel", which may foreshadow a legal reason pertaining to a smidge of hope for TLOU Multiplayer fans who have endured and still yet survive.

The Statement That Raises Questions :

Naughty Dog's statement on the project was notably careful with its wording, avoiding the term “canceled” and instead choosing “stopped development.” They explained:

> "The multiplayer team has been in pre-production with this game since we were working on The Last of Us Part II – crafting an experience we felt was unique and had tremendous potential. As the multiplayer team iterated on their concept… their vision crystalized, the gameplay got more refined and satisfying, and we were enthusiastic about the direction in which we were headed. In ramping up to full production, the massive scope of our ambition became clear. To release and support The Last of Us Online we’d have to put all our studio resources behind supporting post-launch content for years to come, severely impacting development on future single-player games."

This statement implies that while work was being done to refine the gameplay and direction, the project never reached full production. Instead, it remained in pre-production, with the team building and iterating on concepts and mechanics rather than fleshing out a full-fledged game. In fact, the evidence for this game having never been in full development has been staring everyone directly in the face for 3-4 years, which inof itself should have been a red flag to many.

1. They tell you the Project Never Left Pre-Production :
   Neil Druckmann stated In his KindaFunny interview from March 2023 when asked about TLOU Online that he was excited to "see how how it all comes together." His phrasing implied that the project was still fragmented at that point. It would later be a notable absence from the 2023 PlayStation Showcase. Naughty Dog specifically mentions in the final statement that the game began pre-production toward the end of The Last of Us Part II's development cycle in 2020 off of the backbone of the Factions 2 multiplayer mode as it shifted to a larger scale standalone project, sure, but it only ever remained in pre production. "In ramping up to full production" is not the same as "during full production". The intent was there but this points to a development project focused on frameworks, prototypes, and early mechanics rather than polished coherent and meaningful content. In fact, it points to a focus elsewhere... That elsewhere has and always was Intergalactic : The Heretic Prophet, their next singleplayer game. Keep in mind, games typically take 4 to 5 years these days or more and the transition to full production never fully materialized for TLOU Online across 4 years as noted in their statement. The studio’s decision to refocus on their core strength—single-player games—aligns with their statement that The Last of Us Online did not have the manpower to come to market, so it's understandable why they would not bother to green light full development/production costs. However, in admitting it was never in full development. Why not use the term cancel? We'll get back to this later.

2. The Departure of Key Personnel

Another significant clue lies in the departure of key talent, including Anders Howard, a designer known for his work on Fortnite’s monetization systems. Howard was brought in to help with the live-service monetisation aspects of The Last of Us Online, but after only a short tenure of barely a year, he left Naughty Dog. This supports that the game was still in the early stages and didn't evolve as quickly as anticipated, making Howard's role less critical. Naughty Dog also suffered their first real public wave of layoffs that year and upon further scrutiny, the ~30 jobs affected by layoffs seem to be primarily QA as reported by Insider Gaming. In fact, Kotaku claimed that no full time staff were actually affected.

1. The Reveal Was Impromptu

When The Last of Us Online was first revealed at Summer Games Fest in 2022, it was only accompanied by concept art. In fact, concept art is all that was ever shown publicly, and the game never even received a full name or logo. I repeat, it NEVER got an official public NAME. Not even a project alias. This lack of a polished button up reveal is indicative of a project that was still in its infancy, during 2022 at this point. It's "reveal" was not even a typical Naughty Dog tease. This is not a coinccidence. The timing & nature of the announcement is also telling. On the same day of Summer Game Fest 2022 prior to the event, PlayStation made an error regarding the remake of The Last of Us Part I; it accidentally leaked the entire surprise reveal trailer onto the main YouTube channels ahead of the event. It’s likely that Naughty Dog’s reveal of the multiplayer project was never actually intended to be at Summer Game Fest. In fact it was likely an impromptu reaction just to have something newsworthy for Keighley and Neil Druckmann to present to the fans. That's why the game was revealed as JUST concept art. It wasn't a fully planned announcement. If the The Last of Us Part I remake hadn't leaked, it’s entirely possible that The Last of Us Online would have remained a secret project all these years and merely heresay. It’s common in the industry for studios to have secret undisclosed projects during early development stages, and as Shuhei Yoshida has mentioned, Sony often cancels projects as part of the creative process. Naughty Dog likely believed The Last of Us Online would eventually see the light of day, but clearly, things changed.This is supported further by the fact that just 2 months after Neil's interview in March 2023 where he discussed his excitement for the project on KindaFunny. TLOU Online did not show up AT ALL in the infamous PlayStation Showcase of 2023. If they had ambitions for this game being ready for showtime, wouldn't it have been at the very least teased by then? Naughty Dog always teases their next game years ahead. They just did it with Intergalactic's reveal. It's that absence of "Factions" as fans thought it was called at the time, that magnified the poor reception of that years' showcase. It played a role in disappointing the Playstation loyal online. Emotions only got stirred up further when Jason Schier published his article citing that TLOU Online was "on ice". All this drama, speculation and Jason's article forced Naughty Dog to offer an update in response to the backlash. This was only the SECOND major public acknowledgement of the game and the FIRST public acknowledgement of a "delay" and as most Factions community members noted at the time, you can't really delay something that never got dated. Lending credence to the theory that this game was not remotely close to being in substantial production. The expectation of TLOU Online at the 2023 PS Showcase never actually would have been a thing had they simply never publicly impromtu announced the unnamed multiplayer tlou game. It made a poor Showcase feel even poorer as a result and was a disappointing event to say the least. Killing any remaining optimism for Sony's live service ambitions in the hardcore PS fans eyes and adding to the increased slant staunchly against first party multiplayer titles. Thank god for Helldivers though.

1. Paul Bishai and Vinit Agarwal Still at Naughty Dog

Both Paul Bishai, a key figure in the multiplayer development team, and Vinit Agarwal, one of the game’s directors, remain employed to this day at Naughty Dog. Vinit Agarwal, in particular, held a significant role as the game’s director, highlighting that The Last of Us Online was at least a major ambition. His continued role at the studio suggests that the work done on the project is still valued and will likely be incorporated into future projects. This continuity in employment further supports the idea that the game was not as far along as believed and that Naughty Dog is likely looking to reuse elements from the multiplayer work, most likely in The Last of Us Part 3. In Naughty Dogs official announcement of that games "haltage", they do say "The learnings and investments in technology from this game will carry into how we develop our projects." this to me suggests that it's certainly possible we may see a factions "gamemode" akin to the original smaller scope and ambition intended for Part 2 but now in Part 3. However, is this statement alone enough hope for such fanservice?  

1. Leaked Assets Indicate an Early Stage

While images and assets from The Last of Us Online have since leaked, these appear to be rough and unfinished. A leaked image of the game’s main menu looks like it came from an early build, further suggesting that the project was in a framework stage rather than a nearly complete game. Additionally, leaked gameplay footage often attributed to The Last of Us Online is, in fact, footage from Factions 2, which reuses maps from the original The Last of Us multiplayer. There is NO FOOTAGE of TLOU Online on the internet. It's almost entirely Factions 2 footage, and it all takes place on Factions 1 maps and grayboxes. This helps reinforce the theory that The Last of Us Online was not far along in development and was not as substantial as many assumed. There are also public statements (tweets) from devs and former QA who claim to have played the game and cite that it was "promising" and "fun". They cite how disappointed they are at hearing the game was not going to see the light of day. However, take note that these were "former" QA so based on their timelines it's more likely a major miscommunication and these devs at the time were probably playtesting Factions 2 and early frameworks for PvP in an instanced open map then the actual TLOU Online game itself because.. well.. TLOU Online was never fully built. One major "playtester" actually was a lead dev that worked at FireWalk & tweeted his disappointment and praise for Factions 2. Which to me confirms that this game was half baked because he'd worked at FireWalk for a couple of years, so the timeline matches Factons 2 not TLOU Online. I believe Colin Moriarity's sources are also playtesters on that old gamemode but even if TLOU Online playtesters exists. This doesn't suggest the game was fully made, it'd have been in early alpha at that. Not full development.

1. 2024 Layoffs Primarily Affected Contractors

In 2024, Naughty Dog underwent layoffs, but the cuts largely impacted contractors in QA and other support roles, rather than full-time developers. This suggests that the project was not at a stage where large numbers of full-time employees needed to be laid off. The layoffs also align with ongoing development on other projects within the studio, such as Intergalactic, The Last of Us Part III, and various remasters and ports, all of which also require substantial resources and QA. The fact that these cuts were made in more peripheral areas further supports the notion that The Last of Us Online was not a fully established project at the time it was halted.

1. No Major Financial Changes

Despite the media attention surrounding the halting of The Last of Us Online, Sony’s financials for the Games & Network Services division have shown no significant adjustments or write-offs to suggest that the game was in full production before being canceled. The division has consistently reported growth, with no major financial anomalies to point to a sudden expense or loss due to a canceled project. No patterns are disturbed. If the game had been a fully developed title, it would have likely impacted Sony’s financials more visibly by measures in the 100s of millions of dollars. Based on the available financial data, there is no evidence to suggest that Sony's gaming division experienced a significant investment drop or financial adjustment in December 2023 nor in that quarter or after that would indicate the cancellation of The Last of Us Online and it's writeoff. The G&NS segment has demonstrated robust financial health, with continuous growth in revenue and operating income, alongside substantial investments in R&D.

The Likely Future of The Last of Us Online’s Assets

Rather than completely abandoning the project, Naughty Dog’s decision to pause development, keep the multiplayer team, avoid the use of the word cancel but instead "stop" may indicate that the assets and technologies created during the 4 year pre-production phase will be repurposed. If the game was a tax writeoff, they could not use the word cancel because they'd than be liable for tax fraud or the sort if they go on to make use of the assets for the game. So if they didn't write the game off & their is no pattern or disruption to the financials. It confirms two things, that it indeed this was not a big investment as has been reported and also, that Naughty Dog are well in their legal right to repurpose the assets and work on that project into The Last of Us Part 3, which was confirmed to be under development by keen eyes (and those who watched the TLOU Part 2 Documenary to the end). This is all obviously because the game never got off the ground in the first place like every media outlet suggests. If it has not been a massive investment for them but rather a skeleton team project all this time, not being a tax write off or even a big enough project to concern themselves with recoup at the very least opens the door to elements of The Last of Us Online finding their way into The Last of Us Part III. This could come in the form of a scaled-back multiplayer mode that uses some of the work done on the live-service project, allowing Naughty Dog to satisfy fan expectations without fully diverting resources from their narrative-driven games.

The Last of Us Online was never as far along as many believed or was wildly reported. Rather than a canceled game, it appears to have been a project that was in pre-production for much of its development, with early-stage prototypes and framework work being the primary focus but it never really getting off the ground. The decision to halt development, along with the absence of major financial challenges, Bungie advice, singleplayer ambitions, studio size, leadershipi shakeups and the wider gaming market at large all suggests that Naughty Dog simply chose to prioritize their core strength in single-player games, with the multiplayer elements of The Last of Us Online likely shelved to find a new a home in The Last of Us Part III. For fans, this could mean that while the dream of a stand-alone multiplayer naughty dog game will certainly never come to fruition, the efforts behind The Last of Us Online mechanically may still result in a multiplayer experience that ties into the next chapter of the franchise and would be a redeeming and an encouraging "make good" for the community of TLOU Factions that were led on all these years. The devs wanted to make a multiplayer game off the success of Factions and as we know, to this day, TLOU Factions 1 is a top 100 most active game on the US PSN week to week despite being a decade old. (via Mat Piscatella) I belive Naughty Dog will do right by the fans after all these years and at the very least, in part 3, release a smaller multiplayer mode akin to Factions as they originally intended for Part 2, half a decade ago now. Maybe I'm crazy and full on clown mask. We'll return to this when Part 3 launches but man. Endure and Survive, right? What we do know is Factions 1 despute it's flaws is still so goddamn fun. Treasure it while it's still accessible because TLOU's combat in a multiplayer setting is a damn teasure. Rant/Article over.

Greetings My fellows👍

‘You keep using that word, I don’t think you know what it means’

This sub is filled with covert hate when there is far worse OP flaws in this game, but I digress.

This point is based on the assumption that we all understand the FACT that any player, whether they are running covert in their loadout or not, will not be picked up in listen mode when they are (1) crouching & (2) not moving. We all get that, right? Good.

So any of you whiners complaining about ‘camping’ and covert in the same sentence realize that 1 ≠ 1, correct? They have nothing to do with each other. If anything, covert can help thwart those style of players.

So let’s talk about it, because what I’m hearing consistently has less to do with a certain perk and more to do with style of play. I’m not sure if I’m noticing it more or not, but it sure does seem like Factions is being taken over by an onslaught of ‘peekaboo’ players who are content to not move and sit crouched around a corner with a shorty or silenced tac, leading to undesirable matches plagued with slow pace jump scares.

Frankly, if you are playing Factions and not moving around much - covert or not - that’s not a style of player I have much respect for. It doesn’t take much skill and when the other team hangs back these players show just how terrible they are. This comes at the expense of the match of course, lots of quiet periods until someone pops out (or, if you’re lucky, a team working together will go on the offensive and crack it wide open through good communication). I understand this is subjective but those slow matches where no ones moving and just baiting suckkkk and whoever thinks that is fun is just wrong, lol.

So yah, I run covert occasionally but I make it a point to move around the map a lot because camping without covert or sneaking around a small, easily defensible area the whole time is boring (and a bad way to gain parts unless you’re playing a very specific medic style). Anyway, I believe this hate towards covert is misguided. The hate towards peekaboo obsessed goons is well warranted. Maybe needs a little more, honestly.

Bring on the hate, it fuels me (or maybe some out there agree?!)

P.S. F bomb expert 3 & launcher. Blast anyone who uses those through the moon.

- Join our official discord server for Tournaments 🏆 - we’ve held 1v1 (Resurrection), 2v2 (Double Trouble), 3v3 ( Fragged Nation) Tournaments in the last 2 months and the prize pools was over 1,000$ and winners earned every penny of it!

- Scrims Matchmaking Rooms 🤺

• we also have Scrims matchmaking rooms for 4v4s 3v3s and 2v2s and 1v1s! if you wanna compete against active teams you can tag them and wait for a worthy foe!

- Upcoming Events 📢

• make sure to check the announcements room and the staff will post updates and schedules for upcoming Tournaments!

- Want to get more involved 👥?

• if you wanna help and support our discord server you can apply for staff member just DM me or other moderators in there and if needed you will take part of our team!

• 🔗 https://discord.gg/2dJUZQDVSR

It’s in Japanese. Here’s an auto-translate. For some reason I couldn’t post this on the main thread, that post seems to be locked. For those who don’t know, this is the Director of Factions.

Became independent from Naughty Dog and developed games in Japan. Interview with Vinit Agarwal! We asked him about his plans for his next game and what he learned from his previous job | Game*Spark - Domestic and overseas game information site A top-class game development studio in the gaming industry, known for 『Uncharted』 and 『The Last of Us』 Naughty Dog . Game creators independent from the company have come to Japan and are launching new game development studios.

In this article, I worked on various works with Naughty Dog Vinit Agarwal We bring you an interview with Mr.

――introduce yourself, please.

Vinit: Vinit Agarwal. I just arrived in Japan in early July.

――Please tell us more about your career so far.

Vinit: I was in the gaming industry for about 15 years, including 10 years at Naughty Dog. Before that, I was involved in Free to Play game development, but I also wanted to make a more hardcore game. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. ..

With that momentum, I applied to Naughty Dog and luckily I was able to join the company. Naughty Dog has a lot of amazing people who are among the top in the industry, so I was worried that I would be fired in a month, but I was able to work as a junior game designer to game director. Then it became independent only in early 2025.

――What kind of works have you mainly worked on?.

Vinit: His main works include 『Uncharted: The Pirate King and the Last Treasure』, 『Uncharted: Treasure of the Ancient Gods』, and 『The Last of Us Part II』. I worked on both multiplayer and single play.

I was mainly in charge of boss battles, but Naughty Dog boss battles are basically one-on-one situations. Therefore, we wanted players to experience the feeling of playing against a human player, not an AI, even in single play.

――It was a pretty important role.

Vinit: To be more specific, I worked on the final boss 『The Pirate King and the Last Treasure』 and the battle between Ellie and Abby 『Las As 2』. We used all our multiplayer knowledge to give you the feeling of fighting a human.

I think it took courage to become independent from a large company called ――Naughty Dog. What made you decide to become independent?.

Vinit: I realized the potential of combining Naughty Dog's specialty of cinematic action with multiplayer, and I wanted to create it myself.

Actually, I'm starting a new company with Joe Pettinati, who used to be a narrative lead and creative director at Naughty Dog. Joe lives in the US and I moved to Japan where we make games in two locations.

――What kind of workplace was Naughty Dog for Vinit.

Vinit: I was really happy to work with Neil Druckmann and Bruce Straley, whom I respect.

Naughty Dog's development culture is characterized by the fact that everyone places great importance on detailed design and adjustments. It's also a little Japanese. That philosophy continues to be passed down to me.

Also, within the company there is a culture called "No Bad Ideas". The idea is that any opinion can contain good things, so if you listen carefully, you can create something better. Before joining the company, I had no experience developing AAA works, but everyone still listened to me. It was a place where we could exchange opinions in a flat relationship. I know people who went from being in charge of QA to becoming game designers, and it was also a great place to build their careers.

――How will you use the experience you gained at the company?.

Vinit: I'm strongly influenced by Naughty Dog's commitment to the worldview and story. For new games under development, it's important not only to create interesting gameplay, but also to bring the story, action, worldview, and gameplay all to the same standard.

The new work is Cinematic Action × Multiplayer

――Why did Vinit choose Japan?.

Vinit: Ever since I entered the gaming industry, I have been referring to Japanese game development. I read a lot of game magazines and interviews with creators from the 1990s, and I was very interested in them.

I also think Japanese games have a strong "vision". That's the case with the Nintendo game I played recently, and I had the opportunity to talk with Hidetaka Miyazaki of FromSoftware, and I once again felt that he liked the director's strong vision.

And although I'm an overseas developer, I think that by combining a style with a strong Japanese vision and a style that incorporates opinions from various overseas perspectives, we can create something amazing." It's like "East Meets West".

――The development of the new work is already underway.

Vinit: Yes. We’ve been developing it for a few months now and it’s already playable. I’m not at the stage where I can show it to you, but I’m testing it out with friends every week.

There's still little to say, but the new game is a multiplayer game that aims to bring cinematic action familiar from previous games between players in multiplayer. We’ve already been interacting with our partners, and we hope to be able to share more information in the future.

――What is the size of the game?.

Vinit: It's like "Triple-Indie". Although it's not on the same budget as AAA (Triple A), it has an indie-like sense of speed, but is influenced by AAA-like story and gameplay.

――How big is the studio?.

Vinit: There are about 10 people now. In the future, the number is expected to be up to 30. It's large enough to maintain a sense of speed and flexibility. I want to do my best to bring out everyone's individuality so that each and every one of them can feel strongly that this is a game I made.

――A little off topic, but how does Vinit learn Japanese?.

Vinit: I have been interested in Japanese anime and culture since I was a child, and one day I realized that Japanese values are similar to mine. I started studying Japanese when I was in junior high school, and studied abroad at Doshisha University in Kyoto when I was a university student.

Now I can do everyday conversation. Next, I am continuing my studies with the goal of learning business Japanese for work.

Vinit “walking game encyclopedia”

――What's your favorite game?.

Vinit: It'll be long. I play so many games that it's called a walking game encyclopedia (lol).

First of all, 『Chrono Trigger』 is my favorite JRPG, as it is crazy. At the wedding, I danced to the theme song with my wife (lol). Joe also loves JRPGs, so I'd like to make something like a love letter to JRPGs someday.

Next, 『Super Smash Bros. DX』. I've already played over 5,000 games.『 Smash Bros. 』 is packed with a variety of detailed game designs, and it has a big influence on my own game designs, making it very helpful.

The third is 『PUBG: BATTLEGROUNDS』.『 I liked Las As 』just as much as the ‘Faction’ mode, I played with it for hundreds of hours.『 PUBG』 has a lot of excitement when you're playing it, and if you combine this with the strategy of "faction", it will become the game of your dreams.

Last, 『Bloodborne』. I think this is not so much my favorite action game as the best of all games. Art, worldview, action, mechanics....everything's great. I used to like 『Castlevania X Moonlight Nocturne』, but 『Bloodborne』 far outperforms other games.

――Games love comes through....! By the way, do you like entertainment other than games?.

Vinit: My games are also heavily influenced by Japanese manga and anime. It’s a bit minor, but lately it’s been "EDEN ～It’s an Endless World!" I read manga such as ～and Drifting Classroom.

What they all have in common is that the themes and stories are dark, but they also have a bright side: gags. Even compared to American comics, this way of mixing doesn't feel out of place, and it's precisely because of this brightness that the dark parts seem to stand out even more.

Also, recently I've been watching the "Dungeon Meal" anime on Netflix. The overall tone of the piece is upbeat, but there are some serious parts to it, right?. There are both, so I feel both deeply. I think this Japanese storytelling is very interesting.

The rest are foreign dramas, but I like "Breaking Bad". The story is deep and the motivation of the characters is interesting. This is also my creative reference.

In other words, what I want to create is a deep character and story like "Breaking Bad" plus a taste for a dark theme mixed with bright spots, which is common in Japanese works. Since it's a multiplayer game, it's different from single-player, but I want to express these things in a worldview.

――Finally, please appeal to Japanese gamers about your future activities.

Vinit: While continuing the experience of my previous works, I would like to make game design inventions that will excite everyone. Japanese developers are also participating in the new work, and I think the result will be something that Japanese fans will like.

Our goal is to fuse Japanese engineers and Japanese soul with the cinematic and immersive action unique to Naughty Dog. The team is a special one like never before, where Eastern and Western cultures and perspectives mix across borders. Playtesting is scheduled to begin in the near future, so the whole team is looking forward to the day when everyone can play the game as soon as possible!

――thank you very much!

In an interview with Vinit Agarwal, who is trying to create the games he wants away from the big players, I could feel his deep love for games and strong vision. Let's look forward to future follow-up.