Naughty Dog announces that they stopped the development of The Last of Us Online

Summary

• Naughty Dog announced in a lengthy blog post that they are stopping the development of The Last of Us Online.
• They explained that it was a tough decision, but they had to prioritize the studio’s future.
• Currently, another single-player title is under development, and more information will be shared soon.

The Last of Us has been one of the highest-rated games ever. The fans liked the title developed by Naughty Dog because of its edge-of-the-seat gameplay, moving story-telling, and quite a few characters that resonated well with them.  

Naughty Dog recently announced that they had abandoned the Last of Us Online project they had been working on. The developers called the choice “incredibly difficult” because they decided to continue down the single-player narrative games genre, which Naughty Dog is quite famous for.

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The developers explained that this decision was quite difficult to arrive at. This is because they know that with this decision, they risk upsetting many of the Last of Us fanbase.

It’s no secret that Last of Us fans eagerly waited for Last of Us Online multiplayer. As a result, they clarified their position in the lengthy blog post.

The multiplayer has been in pre-production since they worked on the Last of Us Part II. The team had finalized the concepts, vision, and gameplay, which got more refined as the days progressed and neared launch.

The ambitious project, however, comes at a price. The developers realized they must invest a lot in supporting post-launch content for the coming years – a choice that could adversely impact their single-player games.

Thus, internally, they had a critical choice to make. They could either become a dedicated live service games studio or focus on single-player narrative games that are an integrated part of Naughty Dog’s heritage.

While all seemed lost, the developers reassured me that this was not the case. The learnings from making The Last of Us Online and the investments into the technology will be carried forward into the upcoming projects.

They also teased that they are working on another “brand-new” single-player game. More information about what will come next for the developers will be shared soon.

About The Last of Us Part II

The Last of Us Part II is a an action-adventure game developed by Naughty Dog and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment for the PlayStation 4. The game is set 5 years after the events of the first game.

Players control Ellie on her journey for revenge against The Wolves, a faction which has set up in Seattle. On her journey, Ellie fights against survivors of the Cordyceps apocalypse and new variants of the infected. The game mixes elements of stealth and gun-play in vast areas, allowing players to approach the situation as they see fit. The Last of Us Part 2 received an overall positive reception and has gone on to win several Game of the Year awards.