Over the last week, over an hour and a half of spoiler heavy footage from The Last of Us Part 2 leaked online. This reportedly includes the game’s opening and many other major story beats that would theoretically ruin the experience for fans.
So, the question has been… how the hell did this happen? Many speculated that the leak came from a disgruntled Naughty Dog employee protesting working conditions or issues with payments. There was a fake Reddit post that furthered this speculation, going as far as to say that Naughty Dog refused to give employees their bonuses but senior staff got them as requested. This was proven to be false.
Sony has issued a statement following an internal investigation stating they’ve identified the leaker but it didn’t come from within Sony or Naughty Dog.
“SIE has identified the primary individuals responsible for the unauthorized release of TLOU2 assets.  They are not affiliated with Naughty Dog or SIE,” reads the statement. “We are unable to comment further because the information is subject to an on-going investigation. We’re looking forward to when The Last of Us Part II will be in your hands and can’t wait for you to enjoy the full experience on June 19.”
Of course, this still doesn’t answer how this happened. With developers moving to a work from home environment, things are far less secure than they’d be in a studio. Some have suggested that an employee had been hacked but right now, there’s no way to know. It’s unclear if Sony will ever actually reveal what happened or will just move past it but it sure is a hell of a mystery.
The Last of Us Part 2 is slated to release exclusively on PS4 on June 19th, 2020.
