Naughty Dog reportedly cancels its multiplayer version of The Last of Us. The PlayStation developer as you should know with this new development plans to focus more on single-player narrative games.
Naughty Dog Cancels Multiplayer Version of The Last of Us
Naughty Dog on Thursday announced that it has finally canceled the multiplayer game that it was building in The Last of Us universe.
The studio also reveals that it has been in pre-production on The Last of Us Online even while also working on The Last of Us Part II. “We were enthusiastic about the direction in which we were headed,” according to a blog post in regards to the news.
However, “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,” Naughty Dog states. “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.”
Clearly, Naughty Dog here is picking the latter path as it also says that it has “more than one” big new single-player title currently in the works.
The Last of Us Online Development Troubles
The Last of Us Online development as you should know already seemed to be in some trouble, as Naughty Dog reportedly announced a delay to the game back in May shortly after Bloomberg reported that Sony was re-evaluating the direction of the game. (In that very same delay announcement, Naughty Dog also showed that it was working on a “brand-new single-player experience.”) In Kotaku’s report in October regarding Naughty Dog laying off some contractors, the publication stated that The Last of Us’ Online was “basically on ice.”
What The Cancellation of The Last of Us Online Means
The cancellation of The Last of Us Online in question adds to the wider pushback of Sony of its live service ambitions. And instead of just releasing 12 live service games by March 2026, the studio now plans to only release six.
The Last of Us Part II Remastered Release Date
The Last of Us Part II Remastered of Sony and Naughty Dog will be released on January 19th, in the coming year of 2024. The second season of the hit HBO show for those that don’t know is set to make its debut in 2025.
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