Sony likely remaking The Last of Us as PlayStation Studios seeks a Head of mobile

Sony seems to be working on a remake of its popular 2013 title, The Last of Us. This seems to be the second version of the game after the remastered version for the PlayStation 4 in 2014. According to the latest information, this new remake will release on PlayStation 5 with improvements in the gameplay and graphics. We have already seen some of these improvements in The Last of Us Part II that launched last year. Besides this, PlayStation Studios is also looking for a new “Head of Mobile”. Here is everything we know about Sony and its strategy to remake The Last of Us with plans to expand to the mobile segment.

Sony will likely remake The Last of Us; details

According to a report from Bloomberg, this remake for the game is likely part of a reorganization at Sony. The company seems to be shifting its strategy at creating larger games or franchise projects through its larger game studios. The company wants the smaller teams to work on smaller, passion-project games. One immediate example of this stance is what happened with The Last of Us remake. Initially, Visual Arts Service Group, a smaller, internal team that has provided support in larger projects like the Uncharted and Spider-Man series wanted to work on the remake. The group wanted to use this remake as a stepping stone to work on its games in the future.

However, Sony ignored the plan after offering a tentative approval to the group for the remake. The company went on to reject an increase in the budget for the remake and reassigned this remake to Naughty Dog. Now, Naughty Dog will work on the remake of the game while Visual Arts Service Group is back at offering support for the project. The report stated that the project is still in its early stages. Sony still has plenty of time to make changes to its strategy.

It is not the first time we have seen the company move away from somewhat smaller projects to focus on bigger franchisees. Sony recently rejected the pitch for a sequel for Days Gone from Bend Studio. Instead, it tasked the game developer to help Naughty Dog with a new multiplayer game and an upcoming Uncharted title. Bend Studio was concerned about absorption into Naughty Dog that it asked Sony to be removed from the projects. Now, the game developer is working on a new title.

PlayStation games may come to mobile

As noted above, Sony is looking for a “Head of Mobile” for its PlayStation Studios. This California-based job wants the candidate to “promote the vision, mission, strategy for mobile game development within PlayStation Studios”. This recent job listing first surfaced on ResetEra and the senior position “will own and develop the mobile games strategy for PlayStation Studios”. Also, one needs “a focus on successfully adapting PlayStation’s most popular franchises for mobile”. The description asks the head to create a roadmap for games for the next 3 to 5 years so that titles won’t start launching soon. Smartphone gaming seems to be the natural progression for hand-held gaming after the upcoming closure of the PSN Store on PlayStation Vita.