The Last of Us Online ends after years of growth
Naughty Dog’s new multiplayer game set in the world of The Last of Us is not any extra. The developer introduced Thursday that it has “made the incredibly difficult decision to stop development on” what it’s been calling The Last of Us Online.
“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 Online was, at one level, supposed to be revealed to the public this year. The studio had launched a handful of items of idea artwork for the sport, however by no means confirmed gameplay.
Naughty Dog mentioned builders on the studio had been in pre-production on The Last of Us Online for the reason that growth of The Last of Us Part 2, which it shipped in 2020. The on-line recreation was “unique and had tremendous potential,” the studio mentioned, but in addition a frightening activity that it didn’t have the assets 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 recreation within the works; one thing unannounced however a venture that it teased again in May, when it told fans The Last of Us Online needed more time to develop. The studio additionally plans to launch The Last of Us Part 2 Remastered for PlayStation 5 in January.
In its announcement, Naughty Dog offered a silver lining for The Last of Us Online’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 mentioned way back to 2018 that it deliberate to ship a multiplayer component for The Last of Us Part 2, a recreation that was first announced way back in 2016.
The authentic The Last of Us launched with multiplayer element of its personal again in 2013, which was additionally available within the PlayStation 4 model, The Last of Us Remastered. TLOU’s Factions mode took deathmatch and crew deathmatch recreation varieties discovered in lots of multiplayer video games, and layered a metagame and story on prime.
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