Naughty Dog’s deliberate multiplayer game set on the planet of The Last of Us is not any extra. The studio introduced Thursday that it has “made the incredibly difficult decision to stop development on” what it’s been calling The Last of Us On-line.
“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,” the studio said in a post on its website. “We’re equally crushed at the studio as we were looking forward to putting it in your hands.”
The Last of Us On-line was, at one level, alleged to be revealed to the general public this 12 months. The studio had launched a handful of items of idea artwork for the game, however by no means confirmed gameplay.
Naughty Dog stated builders on the studio had been in pre-production on The Last of Us On-line for the reason that growth of The Last of Us Half 2, which it shipped in 2020. The on-line game was “unique and had tremendous potential,” the studio stated, nevertheless it was additionally a frightening activity that it didn’t have the sources to dedicate to.
“In ramping up to full production, the massive scope of our ambition became clear,” the developer defined. “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.”
Naughty Dog does have a separate and brand-new single-player game within the works; the studio teased this challenge again in Could when it instructed followers The Last of Us On-line wanted extra time to develop. The studio additionally plans to launch The Last of Us Half 2 Remastered for PlayStation 5 in January.
In its announcement, Naughty Dog supplied a silver lining for The Last of Us On-line’s formal cancellation: “The learnings and investments in technology from this game will carry into how we develop our projects and will be invaluable in the direction we are headed as a studio. We have more than one ambitious, brand new single player game that we’re working on here at Naughty Dog, and we cannot wait to share more about what comes next when we’re ready.”
Naughty Dog stated way back to 2018 that it deliberate to ship a multiplayer element for The Last of Us Half 2, a game that was first introduced manner again in 2016.
The unique The Last of Us launched with multiplayer element of its personal again in 2013, which was additionally out there within the PlayStation 4 model, The Last of Us Remastered. TLOU’s Factions mode used deathmatch and staff deathmatch game sorts discovered in lots of multiplayer video games, and layered a metagame and story on high.
