Report: Sony Allegedly Identifies The Last of Us Part II Leakers – Contradicts Previous Rumors

By 
·May 1, 2020

A new report details that Sony has identified the Last of Us Part II leakers.

According to Games Industry, Sony reportedly identified the leakers and claims “they were not affiliated with Sony Interactive Entertainment or Naughty Dog.”

They did not provide any further details.

The Last of Us Part II director Neil Druckmann responded to the report on Twitter.

Related: Naughty Dog and Sony Attempt To Quash Last of Us Part 2 Leaks And Silence Anyone Discussing Them

He wrote, “Well how about that… (Avoid comments if you don’t want spoilers).”

In a subsequent tweet he added, “Glad this got cleared up, but there are a lot of other false rumors out there. Looking forward to discussing all of this once the game is out.”

YouTuber Memology 101 is not buying the official line from Sony. He took to Twitter to write, “The person who leaked it had access to several builds of The Last of Us2 and access to data that only devs have.”

Related: The Last of Us II Story Cutscenes Leak, Partially Confirm Previous 4Chan Rumors

He added, “Sony still claims the person is unrelated to Naughty Dog. I call bullshit.”

In a video upload, Memology would add, “That’s right, Sony has no idea who leaked the game.”

He adds, “All they did is claim to know who did it. Do they really think people are that naive?”

Rumors from an alleged source close to Naughty Dog told Sausage Roll that the leak came from within the studio.

The source reportedly told them, “I don’t doubt, even for a moment, that this leak came from the studio. The Last of Us Part 2 is very divisive and, as you can imagine, some of the team aren’t really thrilled to be working on the game.”

The source goes on to indicate the work environment could be the cause of the leak. They explain, “The team is very much divided on the game, and even voicing your concerns on its story will upset certain individuals; it usually results in said person being called closed-minded or even phobic, or some such nonsense. Some people literally have to bite their tongues or fear losing their jobs, even careers, to an outrage mob.”

The source adds, “What’s really sad is that nobody is allowed to talk about any of this. Many employees have left Naughty Dog because in-house politics and they are under a strict NDA and absolutely cannot discuss the studio’s ‘productions practices’ secrets. Oops!”

Related: VA Troy Baker Cautions The Last Of Us Part II Players To Be “Open-Minded”

“It was primarily the senior team that left Naughty Dog and to assume that it’s because of ‘long working hours’ is laughable. Anybody that has ever worked in game development knows that this is crock of shit. Since I can remember, development has always been like this; get to work, chug coffee and don’t leave until you’ve completed the task that you’ve been assigned for the day. It’s a part of the fun. It’s a part of the lifestyle. What’s not fun is working in a toxic environment,” the source concluded.

A Reddit thread submitted to TheLastOfUs2 Subreddit by user TommyKnocker_316 also details that the leaker was a Naughty Dog employee. This rumor claims the leak was done due to a pay dispute over employees getting furloughed.

Related: Naughty Dog VP And The Last of Us Part II Director Neil Druckmann Previously Fired A “Sexist Focus Tester”

Druckmann previously revealed in an interview back in 2016 that he fired a focus tester.

He explained, “You have some sexist focus testers who were really upset by Nadine beating up Nate, and really upset at the end when it was Nate’s daughter.”

He added, “To the point where we had to ask one guy to leave. In his core, it just affected him. He was cursing, ‘Not you, too, Naughty Dog! Goddammit. I guess I’m done with Uncharted, if you guys ever make another one, with his daughter. This f***ing bullshit.'”

Former Naughty Dog employee and animator Jonathan Cooper, who worked on The Last of Us 2 and Uncharted 4, also detailed that Naughty Dog threatened to withhold his final paycheck unless he “signed additional paperwork stating I wouldn’t share their production practices.”

Cooper went on to detail that he didn’t personally have an “awful crunch tale,” but he noted that a friend of his was hospitalized.

He then went on to detail why he specifically decided to leave Naughty Dog claiming it was due to Naughty Dog no longer being the best and their talent retention practices.

Related: Director Neil Druckmann Provides Update On Naughty Dog’s Indefinitely Delayed The Last Of Us Part II

Cooper does detail that there are other worse Naughty Dog stories, but he specifically wanted to focus on animation, and had high praise for The Last of Us Part II’s animation.

What do you make of Sony’s claim that the leak came from outside of Sony Interactive Entertainment and Naughty Dog? Do you believe them? What do you make of these various rumors claiming it came from within the studio?

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