Despite what Naughty Dog’s Vinit Agarwal said last month, the developer has now officially cancelled the multiplayer project for The Last of Us. Naughty Dog broke the news via their official blog, citing the game’s “massive scope” and the amount of resources that would be required to develop the project.
“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,” reads the statement “We’re equally crushed at the studio as we were looking forward to putting it in your hands.”
The project, which had been in development at the same time as The Last of Us Part II, had been rumbling as far back as 2019. Leaked footage of the project eventually showed up online, but the project itself wasn’t officially confirmed until 2022.
“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.”
However, according to the post, as the team ramped up to full production, the reality of the required scope set in. “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.”
No doubt it’s a disappointing end for fans looking to revisit the Factions component from the original game. What stings even more is the fact that the original Factions servers were shut down in 2019.
Meanwhile, Naughty Dog is still prepping for the release of The Last of Us Part II Remastered, which is scheduled for release on the PlayStation 5 on January 19, 2024.
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