Can Naughty Dog’s online multiplayer game set in the world of The Last of Us live up to the franchise’s single-player titles? Seems nobody will ever really know, as the developer has shared a blog post that can confirm the game is no longer in development.
Here’s the word from Naughty Dog, which revealed that it had “made the incredibly difficult decision to stop development” on The Last of Us Online, a project that the studio had been teasing for a few years:
We know this news will be tough for many, especially our dedicated The Last of Us Factions community, who have been following our multiplayer ambitions ardently. We’re equally crushed at the studio as we were looking forward to putting it in your hands. We wanted to share with you some background of how we came to this decision.
The multiplayer team has been in pre-production with this game since we were working on The Last of Us Part II – crafting an experience we felt was unique and had tremendous potential. As the multiplayer team iterated on their concept for The Last of Us Online during this time, their vision crystalized, the gameplay got more refined and satisfying, and we were enthusiastic about the direction in which we were headed.
Naughty Dog goes on to explain that The Last of Us Online has been terminated because it would have interfered with the development of its future titles, which may or may not include The Last of Us Part III:
In ramping up to full production, the massive scope of our ambition became clear. To release and support The Last of Us Online we’d have to put all our studio resources behind supporting post launch content for years to come, severely impacting development on future single-player games. So, we had two paths in front of us: become a solely live service games studio or continue to focus on single-player narrative games that have defined Naughty Dog’s heritage.
The post ends with Naughty Dog telling fans that it has multiple, ambitious single-player games that are currently in development, and that it will be sharing more on those when the time is right.
The Last of Us Part II Remastered, a definitive version of the 2020 sequel that features new visuals, a roguelike survival mode, and more, is out on PS5 on January 19, 2024.
“With a team led by Vinit Agarwal, Joe Pettinati, and Anthony Newman, the project is shaping up to be a fresh, new experience from our studio, but one rooted in Naughty Dog’s passion for delivering incredible stories, characters, and gameplay,” Neil Druckmann wrote in January 2023 regarding his team’s now-canceled multiplayer game.