The single-player focused game development studio, Naughty Dog is supposedly going all-in with their upcoming multiplayer game. A recent job posting on the official website reveals that the company is looking for an Economy Designer for multiplayer. Older Naughty Dog games like Uncharted 4 and The Last of Us did have a multiplayer mode. However, they weren’t very deep and felt more like an add-on.
There is no doubt that the job posting refers to the planned Faction mode for TLOU2. The developer has confirmed previously that such a mode for that game was in development before the halt to support the single-player campaign.
What’s more interesting is that one of the requirements for the job is “designing successful economies in PC or console multiplayer game.” Naughty Dog is a first-party development studio for Sony which releases PlayStation-exclusive titles. This news combined with the year-old job posting hints at an inevitable PC release of TLOU2.
It won’t be surprising as Sony has started releasing some of their exclusive titles to PC. Horizon Zero Dawn is already available and Days Gone will launch sometime in summer 2021. The requirements and responsibilities for the said job are mentioned below.
RESPONSIBILITIES:
- Design, implement, and tune game economy and player progression systems
- Collaborate with other game designers to ensure economy systems synergize well with the game as a whole
- Collaborate extensively with other departments, especially Programming, Character, and UI to drive production on code and art assets necessary to the player economy
- Collaborate extensively with Live Ops team to optimize economy and respond to player needs
- Develop data analytics for player behavior, and the strategy to respond to those results
- Additional responsibilities may be assigned as needed
REQUIREMENTS & SKILLS:
- Experience designing successful economies in PC or console multiplayer games
- Knowledge of how player progression systems and economy systems interact
- Understanding of player psychology
- Understanding of narrative tone
- Strong and effective communication skills
- Exceptional team player
- Robust knowledge of multiplayer action games
BONUS SKILLS:
- Scripting or programming experience
- Gameplay systems design experience
So what do you think? Are you interested in the multiplayer mode of The Last of Us Part 2 ? Will you purchase the game again if it does launch on PC? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.
