Naughty Dog Cancels ‘The Last of Us” Multiplayer To Focus On Single-Player Games

It has been more than a year since we last heard anything concrete about The Last of Us online multiplayer project, and with The Last of Us Part 2 Remastered coming in a month’s time, it would have been the perfect moment to get fans excited again. Unfortunately, that would no longer be the case, as Naughty Dog has made the decision to cancel development on that project.

In a new blog post, the team shared that they have “made the incredibly difficult decision to stop development on that game,” as it would have required too much of the studio to support both a live service as while as to maintain its focus on single-player narrative experiences.

“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,” said the team.

“In ramping up to full production, the massive scope of our ambition became clear. 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.”

With Naughty Dog having cut its teeth on its excellent single-player games for so many years, it kind of does make sense for the team to make this decision. It doesn’t make it easier for fans looking forward to the project though, but maybe, for the rest of us, it is actually the best thing moving forward.

“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,” the post also teased. Fingers crossed we’ll find out soon.