A cute The Last of Us 2 mini-game had to be removed by Naughty Dog during development because a playtester drew a Nazi Swastika. The mini-game gave players the freedom to draw as Owen, with the intended subject being Abby. Instead of completing a drawing of Abby, one playtester whipped up the infamous Nazi symbol instead.
The Last of Us 2 drawing mini-game removed by Naughty Dog during development
As revealed by a Naughty Dog Principal Environment Artist, Anthony Vaccaro, the Abby painting mini-game would have featured Owen starting to paint her outline, with the player then being handed the controls to fill in the gaps.
After detailing the cut mini-game, Vaccaro then went on to explain that during the first outside playtest, “someone drew a [Swastika] to see if they could.”
Abbys painting was to be a mini game where Owen started to paint Abbys face but then had the Player finish up the painting using the joystick as your paintbrush. First outside playtest someone drew a swastica to see if they could ? We swapped to the bow and arrow mini game ha
— Anthony Vaccaro (@vaccaro3d) February 2, 2023
Following this incident, Naughty Dog swapped the painting mini-game for the bow and arrow mini-game.
Though this drawing mini-game didn’t make it into the launch build, this guitar mini-game did, and it allows for some incredibly creative renditions of popular songs.
While The Last of Us 2 had an open ending that left room for a sequel, a “Part 3” isn’t guaranteed, as Naughty Dog thinks the second game has a “very strong ending.”
