The Last of Us multiplayer game Naughty Dog has been working on has been officially canceled. The multiplayer title, which fans were calling Factions after the multiplayer mode in the first game, was last heard about when it was reported the game was having development issues. In the statement released by Naughty Dog, the studio said that despite the game having been in pre-production since before The Last of Us: Part 2 released, the studio would be ceasing development. The reason for this decision is that Naughty Dog doesn’t have the resources to manage multiple large projects.
Naughty Dog Canceled The Last of Us Multiplayer To Focus On Single-Player Games
In the statement from Naughty Dog, the studio said that it felt that The Last of Us multiplayer was too ambitious and would force the developer to only focus on it.
“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,” the statement said. “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 said that the project was progressing well and that the game was headed in a positive direction. Despite the positive progression in development, ultimately, it had to cancel the project so it could continue making single-player experiences. In the statement, Naughty Dog said it currently has “more than one” single-player game in the works.
The report about the multiplayer mode having development trouble might shed some light on other reasons for the cancelation. It was reported that Bungie, who has a successful live-service title with Destiny 2, had checked out the game and given negative feedback. It seems possible that Naughty Dog was unable to make the needed changes and eventually pulled the plug.
Naughty Dog’s next release, The Last of Us Part 2 Remastered, will be released on PlayStation 5 on January 19, 2024.
