It’s been an eventful few weeks for The Last of Us Part 2, with the game having been subject to major, full-blown leaks. Since then, a lot of information has been floating around about what caused those leaks- some accurate, some, not so much. Sony recently gave a update on the same, saying that they had identified the leakers, who have no affiliation with either them or Naughty Dog, contrary to a few earlier reports, and now journalist Jason Schreier has provided another possible update on this story on Twitter.
According to Schreier, who has spoken to some Naughty Dog employees and “two people with direct knowledge” of how the game got leaked, The Last of Us Part 2 may have been leaked by hackers. Apparently, hackers were able to find a hole in Naughty Dog’s security in a patch for one of their older games, and using that they were able to gain access to their servers.
Schreier re-iterates the leak was not – as opposed to some earlier reports – orchestrated by a disgruntled former Naughty Dog employee over compensation or benefits, which, according to Schreier, is something the studio has actually been very fair about with its employees. He also states that the build that was leaked (which may have been footage of developers testing and playing the game) was a relatively earlier one.
Till such time Sony or Naughty Dog officially confirm something themselves, remember that there’s a lot of false information about this matter that’s floating out there, but Schreier is a reputable source, to say the least, so it’s worth listening to what he has to say.
The Last of Us Part 2 will be out exclusively for the PS4 on June 19, and pre-orders for the game are live once more. It’s clearly going to be a pretty big game, judging by its massive file size- read more on that through here.
OK: After talking to two people with direct knowledge of how TLOU2 leaked as well as some Naughty Dog employees, I have a good idea of what happened. Short version: hackers found a security vulnerability in a patch for an older ND game and used it to get access to ND’s servers.
— Jason Schreier (@jasonschreier) May 3, 2020
I think the footage that leaked is from devs playing an early build (I haven’t watched it). Most importantly, rumors of this being an act of protest by a contractor whose pay was robbed are not true. (ND actually extended pay and healthcare benefits for contractors due to covid)
— Jason Schreier (@jasonschreier) May 3, 2020
