Naughty Dog cancelled work on "The Last of Us Online" when the project was about 80 percent complete in order to prioritize resources for single-player titles such as "Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet".
Former game director Vinit Agarwal confirmed in an interview with Lance E. Lee that the ambitious multiplayer spin-off of "The Last of Us" was close to completion before Sony and Naughty Dog pulled the plug at the end of 2023. A similar fate befell... Project by Eidos MontrealIt was also cancelled shortly before completion.
The decision favored the studio's traditional core competency – narrative single-player experiences – and against operating a resource-intensive live-service model. Even more serious, however, is the fact that the game was canceled just 24 hours before its official premiere.
Strategic decision against live service
According to Agarwal in current podcast Development had already been underway for seven years at the time of cancellation. That a project is scrapped at 80 percent completion is unusual in the industry, but it underscores the risk of live-service games. Naughty Dog faced a choice: either the studio permanently transforms into a service provider to ensure multiplayer support, or it focuses on Neil Druckmann's next major project.
The director also provided deep insights into Sony's strategic shift, which was significantly influenced by the pandemic. From 2020 onward, the company pushed for live service projects, as global lockdowns massively boosted player numbers. However, with the return to normalcy and the resulting market saturation, growth rates declined, prompting Sony to withdraw many of these investments.
Ultimately, this development forced an internal prioritization at Naughty Dog: In order not to split the studio's resources between a permanent service operation and new narrative brands, the decision was made in favor of the project "Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet“and thus against the completion of the multiplayer mode.”
Technical context and comparison
The cancellation of "The Last of Us Online" is symptomatic of the difficulties faced by traditional single-player studios in the Games-as-a-Service (GaaS) sector. While competitors like Bungie (Marathon) possess the necessary infrastructure, Naughty Dog would have had to invest heavily in personnel for content updates and server maintenance.
For comparison, "Factions," the multiplayer mode of the first game, was significantly simpler. The new project was intended to offer a standalone, persistent world. The fact that resources are now being invested in "Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet" suggests that Naughty Dog prefers to remain a technical leader in the single-player segment on the PlayStation 5, rather than exhausting itself in the fiercely competitive multiplayer market.
For fans of the franchise, this means a long dry spell. A "The Last of Us Part III" is not expected after... recent indications While likely, due to Naughty Dog's long development cycles – seven years passed between parts 1 and 2 – it will probably only play a role in the next console generation.
That was very disappointing 🤮
Well, this just goes to show that Sony has absolutely no clue in this segment! Instead of laying off people, like they did with Bluepoint and other studios, they should have simply kept the good developers on board and used them in this project. The game would have been a smash hit! Look at Arc Raiders… But no! They'd rather keep developing that crap Horizon Temu Fortnite! It's pathetic and completely ignores the wishes of their customers…
I agree with you, Factions 1 was great. With better graphics and the movement from part 2, it would be peak.