Naughty Dog Scraps The Last of Us Online Project

 

Naughty Dog, the acclaimed developer behind the Uncharted and The Last of Us series, has officially pulled the plug on The Last of Us Online, a multiplayer game that was supposed to expand the universe of the post-apocalyptic franchise.  The studio confirmed the news on Thursday, saying that it was an "incredibly difficult decision" that came after years of delays and challenges.

The Last of Us Online was first announced in 2019, as a standalone game that would feature the same gameplay mechanics and factions system as the multiplayer mode of The Last of Us: Part 2, which was released in 2020.  The game was supposed to be a live service title, meaning that it would receive regular updates and new content over time, similar to games like Fortnite and Destiny.

However, Naughty Dog faced several difficulties in developing and maintaining the game, as it also had to focus on its core strength of delivering single-player narrative games.  The studio said that continuing with The Last of Us Online would have required it to become "a solely live service games studio", which would have impacted its other projects. "We realize this information may be hard for many, specially our devoted The Last of UsFactions community, who have been eagerly awaiting this project," Naughty Dog said in a statement.  "We want to thank you for your patience and support throughout this journey. We hope you can understand and respect our decision."

Naughty Dog also revealed that it is currently working on "more than one ambitious, brand new single player game", but did not provide any details or release dates.  The studio is also preparing to launch a remastered version of The Last of Us: Part 2 for the PlayStation 5 next month, which will feature enhanced graphics and performance. 

The cancellation of The Last of Us Online follows Sony's recent announcement that it is scaling back its plans to produce more live service games for its PlayStation platform.  In February 2022, Sony said it wanted to release 12 live service games by March 2026, but has since revised the figure down to six. Sony executives have said that they still want to focus on big multiplayer titles, but that quality is a priority.

The Last of Us is one of Sony's most successful and critically acclaimed franchises, with the first game winning over 200 Game of the Year awards and selling over 20 million copies.  The second game also received widespread praise and sold over 10 million copies. A TV adaptation of the first game, starring Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey, is currently in production and has been nominated for three Golden Globes.