Naughty Dog, the video game developer of The Last of Us series, released a statement on Twitter to address The Last of Us 2 spoilers circulating the internet.
Rumored to be caused by a disgruntled former Naughty Dog employee, the leaks come in the form of footage showing off the game’s cutscenes and gameplay.
These leaks have also introduced significant spoilers to The Last of Us 2‘s storyline, much to the dismay of hardcore fans of the series.
The much-anticipated survival horror epic The Last of Us 2 hasn’t been through the smoothest of development cycles.
After being hit by two delays, Naughty Dog has also recently come under fire for its harsh working conditions and “crunch culture,” which forced employees to go above and beyond for the sake of the game’s development. At one point, twelve-hour shifts reportedly became the norm for most workers.
Naughty Dog’s response to leaks
The Santa Monica-based studio has since responded to the leaks by issuing a statement on Twitter.
The post confirmed the leak’s authenticity and also urged fans to be wary of spoilers and to avoid spoiling the game for others.
While the statement started off with a tone of disappointment, Naughty Dog made sure to reassure gamers that The Last of Us 2 would be in their hands very soon and that “No matter what you see and hear, the final experience will be worth it.”
A message from the studio: pic.twitter.com/f0TzIZXUIB
— Naughty Dog (@Naughty_Dog) April 27, 2020
Fans will likely want to steer clear of the tweet’s comment section since it’s pretty much flooded with links and discussions about the said spoilers.
The development cycle of The Last of Us 2
The Last of Us 2 — the follow-up to the critically acclaimed PlayStation 3 exclusive The Last of Us — began development in 2014 right after the debut of its prequel’s PlayStation 4 remaster.
The game was finally announced via trailer during the PlayStation Experience event, which was held in December of 2016. A second trailer would surface almost a year later during the Paris Games Week.
The Last of Us 2 was originally planned for a February 21, 2020 release, but was pushed back to the end of May to make room for more improvement and polish.
On April 20, 2020, it was announced that the game would be delayed indefinitely due to development issues that arose from the coronavirus pandemic. Fortunately, Sony recently released a statement confirming The Last of Us 2‘s new official release date on June 19, 2020.
Updated release dates: The Last of Us Part II and Ghost of Tsushima come to PS4 this summer: https://t.co/RvMfBI8nxL pic.twitter.com/5AAPgO6tFw
— PlayStation (@PlayStation) April 27, 2020
With just under two months to go before the game’s release, fans looking to dodge spoilers may want to add The Last of Us 2 to their list of muted twitter phrases.
Image courtesy of The Last of Us 2/PlayStation.