The multiplayer video game The Last of Us is being scrapped
The maker of the blockbuster video game The Last of Us, which was adapted into the hit HBO series of the same name earlier this year, announced that it would cancel development of the game’s highly anticipated online multiplayer version.
“We realize that many of you have been anticipating news surrounding the project we are calling The Last of Us Online,” said the developer, Naughty Dog. in the announcement Thursday. “There is no easy way to say this: we have made the incredibly difficult decision to stop development of that game.”
The studio said the decision to drop the game came after it became clear that resources would have to be freed up “for years to come” at the expense of future single-player games.
Naughty Dog said it faced two options: “become an exclusively live-service games studio or continue to focus on single-player narrative games that have defined Naughty Dog’s legacy.” It chose the second option.
Work on The Last of Us Online began at the same time that Naughty Dog began development of the single-player sequel, The Last of Us Part II.
That game came out in 2020.
Concerned fans of the video game were led to believe that The Last of Us Online was in trouble after its developer shared an update in May.
“We are incredibly proud of the work our studio has done so far, but as development has progressed we have realized it is best to give the game more time,” the update said.
The Last of Us follows a grieving father and a teenage girl as the unlikely pair traverse a post-apocalyptic America ravaged by the global outbreak of a zombifying fungal infection.
The plot received critical acclaim following the game’s release in 2013, and the 2023 television adaptation starring Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey earned two dozen Emmy Award nominations.
The death of The Last of Us Online was especially disappointing for fans of The Last of Us Factions limited in-game online multiplayer experience which was available in select releases of the Last of Us game.
Naughty Dog’s announcement drew mixed reactions from the online gaming community.
Some agreed that the studio would be better off focusing on new single-player games, while others questioned the studio’s apparent lack of foresight.