Naughty Dog has announced that it has ceased production on The Last of Us Online, its long-in-development multiplayer title set in its popular post-apocalyptic universe.
In a ___ Blog post, Naughty Dog explains that it made the “incredibly difficult” decision to cancel the project after it apparently became so big that the studio realized it had to support it for years after launch. Precious resources will need to be spent. When faced with the reality of becoming a studio solely dedicated to supporting a live service game or continuing single-player experiences, it chose the latter.
Here is the full description of Naughty Dog:
We realize that many of you are anticipating news about the project we’re calling the last name online. There’s no easy way to say this: we’ve made the incredibly difficult decision to stop development on this game.
We know this news will be difficult for many, especially our dedicated The Last of Us fiction community, who have been following our multiplayer ambitions enthusiastically. We’re just as stoked in the studio as we can be to get it into your hands. We wanted to share with you some background on how we came to this decision.
The multiplayer team has been in pre-production with the game since we were working on The Last of Us Part II – creating an experience that we felt was unique and had great potential. As the multiplayer team iterated on their concept for The Last of Us Online during that time, their vision became clearer, the gameplay became more refined and satisfying, and we were excited about the direction it was taking. Where we were going.
In reaching full production, the broad scope of our ambitions became clear. Releasing and supporting The Last of You Online will require us to put all of our studio resources behind supporting post-launch content for years to come, which will severely impact the development of future single-player games. . So, we had two options: become a fully live-service games studio or continue to focus on the single-player narrative games that have defined Naughty Dog’s legacy.
We are extremely proud of everyone at the studio who touched this project. The learnings from this game and the investment in technology will drive how we develop our projects and will be invaluable in the direction we’re headed as a studio. We’ve got more than one exciting, brand new single-player game we’re working on here at Naughty Dog, and can’t wait to share more about what’s next when we’re ready.
Until then, we are incredibly grateful for your support of our community throughout the years.
The Last of You online concept art
The Last of Us Online was originally intended as a multiplayer mode attached to The Last of Us Part II, serving as a successor to the first game’s fiction mode. However, as its scope expanded, Naughty Dog decided to make it a broader experience, preferring to release Part II’s single-player campaign, which arrived in 2020 to critical acclaim (fans by polarizing ). The Last of Us Online made its more official debut during Summer Gamefest in 2022, though the studio only revealed concept art and didn’t give a release window.
In January, Naughty Dog released new concept art, promising to share more details about the game later this year. In May, the studio said more time was needed to work on the project amid reports of a troubled development. In October, 25 employees were laid off from various departments (mostly QA), with reports that development of TLOU Online was effectively “on ice”. A few weeks later, Sony delayed the title with an unknown number of upcoming Live Service titles.
The news is a big blemish on an otherwise great year for the franchise. Last month, Sony announced The Last of Us Part II Remastered, an updated version of the 2020 game that will launch next month with new additions and enhancements, such as its roguelite mode No Return. HBO’s The last of us The series premiered earlier this year to critical acclaim and won the Game Award for Best Adaptation. The franchise even got its own haunted house at Universal Studios Halloween Horror Nights. Although the writing was on the wall for The Last of Us Online’s demise, it’s sad to know that it won’t come to fruition.