After much speculation surrounding its release, Naughty Dog has finally pulled the plug on The Last of Us Online, ending all development for the now-shelved multiplayer experience.
Fans had known of an upcoming TLOU standalone multiplayer game for several years, with a job listing in 2021 hinting at it. Earlier this year, Naughty Dog stated that fans should be patient as development was ongoing.
Sadly, that's all been tossed aside after the developers confirmed in a heartfelt blog post on December 14 that The Last of Us Online would be no more, a project that started its development process alongside The Last of Us Part II.
The update states:
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.
The blog continues by stating that, as the original vision for what The Last of Us Online would be grew, Naughty Dog had to make a decision between pouring as many resources into the game as they could to meet that ambition, thus turning into a dedicated live-service developer a la Epic Games with Fortnite, or continue crafting AAA single-player experiences.
Soon after the Sony acquisition of Bungie, the former Halo and current Destiny 2 devs allegedly assessed the work Naughty Dog was doing with the online component of the Last of Us, finding it to be "lacking."
While it's impossible to say Bungie's appraisal of The Last of Us Online led Naughty Dog to pull the plug on the game, it could have been an important factor in their decision. After all, Sony's big plans for the future of PlayStation include a wide array of live-service games.
It could be that Naughty Dog didn't intend to heavily monetise or dedicate a lot of resources post-release to Factions, making the Sony higher-ups a bit sceptical about the profitability of the project, but this is all mere speculation.
Sony's initial focus on live-service games appears to be problematic, not only for the cancellation of The Last of Us Online, but the current problems Bungie itself is facing, with the delay of The Final Shape and massive layoffs, things are not looking bright.