'The Last of Us' remake reportedly in development

Sony is reportedly developing a PlayStation 5 remake of Naughty Dog’s post-apocalyptic zombie action game The Last of Us. 

According to a report by Bloomberg, a development unit within Sony had started work on a remake of 2013's highly-acclaimed PS3 game.

Although Sony initially approved the remake project on a “probationary basis,” the tech company reportedly kept the group’s existence a secret and also refused to provide a budget that would allow them to hire more people. 

Despite this, the team, headed by Visual Arts Service Group’s Michael Mumbauer, kept working on the project codenamed TX1 and eventually completed a section of the game that could showcase how the entirety of the remake would look like.

However, PlayStation’s Hermen Hulst was apparently “not impressed” with the group’s project and thought the remake was too expensive compared to Sony’s previous projects.

The report added that Mumbauer’s team was later tapped by Sony to help complete The Last of Us Part II after the highly-awaited sequel’s release date got pushed back from 2019 to 2020.

But when Naughty Dog finally completed the sequel, Sony reportedly ordered some people from the original developer to work on the remake project, leaving Mumbauer’s team on the sidelines. 

After the TX1 team realized that they no longer have the autonomy on the project, most of the staff left, including Mumbauer and the game’s director David Hall. 

The TX1 reportedly remains in development, with Naughty Dog at the helm of the project.