Naughty Dog wants to focus on single-player games again after discontinuing a multiplayer project.
The developer Naughty Dog was already able to celebrate great success with The Last of Us Parts 1 and 2. The series, in which the events from the first game are recreated, also met with enthusiasm among fans and critics. However, another project by the developers is now history. The planned multiplayer spin-off of The Last of Us has officially been canceled.
What happened?
Naughty Dog had already stated earlier in the year that it needed more time for the project. In a report by the well-known journalist Jason Schreier, it was said that the multiplayer offshoot was in trouble because the game still lacked long-term motivation.
Apparently Schreier was spot on: on December 14th, the developers announced on your website
incredibly difficult decisionis expressed in detail:
The multiplayer team has been pre-developing this game since we were working on The Last of Us Part 2, creating an experience with enormous potential that we felt was unique. […] Their vision became clearer and the gameplay refined, and we were excited about the direction we were moving in.
However, as we fully focused on development, we realized the scope of our ambitions. In order to publish and support The Last of Us Online, we would have to dedicate all of our studio’s resources to supporting post-release content for years, which would severely impact the development of future single-player games.
So we had two paths ahead of us: we could become a live service game development studio, or we could continue to focus on narrative single-player games that define Naughty Dog’s legacy.
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How the decision was made is obvious given the discontinuation of the multiplayer offshoot. Although we are now quite depressed, we will use the experiences we have gained for future projects. That’s what we’re working on at the moment more than an ambitious, brand new single player game
Unfortunately, we don’t know exactly what kind of game The Last of Us Online would have been. All that is known is that, among other things, there should be a co-op mode for two players. The developers also wanted to focus on a lot of story and tell a story with new characters.
What would you have thought if Naughty Dog released a multiplayer spin-off for The Last of Us? Would you like to see what the development studio known for its story games does with it? And do you think stopping the project was the right decision? Feel free to tell us your opinion in the comments!
