Naughty Dog may have cancelled a new The Last of Us game, but that doesn’t mean its concept has died, and that’s what’s happened with this spiritual successor.
In 2022, Naughty Dog announced a new standalone multiplayer game set in the same universe as The Last of Us, inspired by the criminally underrated Factions mode in the original game.
However, in December 2023, The Last of Us multiplayer game was cancelled, allowing Naughty Dog to focus on single-player projects fully. We’d assume that the multiplayer project wasn’t going as planned, but I think many fans would agree that the multiplayer offering would have had some potential.
The Last of Us Multiplayer May Be Dead, but Factions Lives On
It’s more than likely that the official The Last of Us multiplayer will never be released, but that doesn’t mean that the passionate community won’t revive it in their own way, because they most certainly are doing that right now.
Earlier this year, a new indie project inspired by Factions was teased, but now, we’ve been treated to some gameplay to see how development is coming along, and it’s looking promising. Just to note, this game was called United State, but it has had a name change.
The game in question is called Terminal War, and it’s a brutal third-person 4v4 multiplayer shooter that harnesses the essence of the post-apocalyptic world of The Last of Us by having players rely on scarce resources to survive.
“They cancelled The Last of Us Factions 2,” tweeted the developers at Albatross Interactive. “So we’re building our version. We’re indie and entirely self-funded.”
The short 20-second clip posted on X certainly looks promising and brutal, but there’s no telling whether or not Terminal War will play as well as it looks until a playable build is released. The developers have teased that a full gameplay trailer will be coming soon.
They cancelled The Last of Us Factions 2.
So we’re building it our version. We’re indie & entirely self funded.
4v4. Limited ammo. Brutal executions.
This is Terminal War. Unofficial gameplay teaser. pic.twitter.com/eE6ee8GXYh
— TERMINAL WAR (@TerminalWarGame) March 25, 2026
“Love the weapon jumping out during execution, very Naughty Dog-like,” replied Genaki_.
“Looks amazing!” said TobyDDRice.
Various X users on the thread have asked if Terminal War will be coming to consoles, and the developers replied that it’s the intention, but it will arrive after the PC version. I guess the console port will all depend on the success of the game. So, I wish the developers good luck.
You can wishlist Terminal War right now on Steam to be notified of any development updates.
As for the progress of the next game in Naughty Dog’s post-apocalyptic series, The Last of Us Part III hasn’t been officially announced at the time of writing.
