Naughty Dog Won't Abandon PC Market; TLoU Devs Promise Continued Support
The release of The Last of Us Part 1 on PC has prompted the developers to reflect on the future of their games on PC. There is no shortage of promises.
Following the long-awaited release of The Last of Us: Part 1 on PC, which took place yesterday, we didn't have to wait long for the developers to comment on their experience with porting, what has so far been exclusive to PlayStation, to PC. We already know that it wasn't easy, but the developers have no plans to abandon a new audience for their games.
Summary of Naughty Dog's PC experience
Naughty Dog published a blog entry, in which the team shared details about working on the PC version.
- One of the not-so-obvious difficulties was supposed to be translating the "tangible and emotional" feeling of gameplay, which the developers have managed to master with controllers, to the keyboard.
- The walking system itself, which has a huge impact on gameplay, had to undergo a major metamorphosis due to the colossal difference between moving through the game world with gamepads and with a mouse and keyboard.
- Another major challenge was to be the optimization, which required "a lot of fine-tuning, tweaking and even rethinking certain aspects."
The developers admit that the biggest help in this complex experience was the knowledge gained from porting Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves Collection to PC. However, this testimony should be interpreted with caution, in view of the mixed reviews of the port.
Future intentions of TLoU devs towards PC
Yesterday's Naughty Dog note was topped by a section on the studio's future plans. Surprisingly, it includes an open assurance that the developers, hitherto associated with PlayStation exclusives, will continue on to the PC.
"Stay tuned, PlayStation and PC gamers. We're already looking forward to continuing to share our creations with you, whether you prefer the DualSense controller or the keyboard and mouse.
Developing games for both platforms enables us to incorporate different lessons into the overall design of our games. Sharing stories and experiences on both PS5 and PC is something Naughty Dog has accepted and will continue to support."
However, we have not received any detailed explanation of this stipulation, regarding how many other (both previous and upcoming) titles will follow the path of The Last of Us: Part 1. However, we can guess that it may be about, among other things, the second installment.
