Though it was canceled last year 2023, The Last of Us Online has been defended by ex-PlayStation executive Shuhei Yoshida. He recently revealed in a recent Sacred Symbols+ Podcast Episode that he has played the game and that he found it to be “great.” His comment suggests that Naughty Dog had a fantastic multiplayer experience on the move before it was finally canceled.
A Multiplayer Vision That Never Launched
It had originally been an idea for The Last of Us Part 2’s multiplayer mode, but had evolved into a full-fledged live-service title after four years of development. Naughty Dog subsequently canceled it later in 2023, mentioning that it was unsure that sustained development would take away from the resources for its single-player games.
This was what Bungie determined after going through PlayStation’s live-service development pipeline and finding out that The Last of Us Online lacked a sustainable post-launch plan. This was what Yoshida described as “a lack of foresight,” citing that the upkeep of the game would have occupied the studio in a manner that it would be difficult for it to be engaged with doing something else.
Naughty Dog’s Enthusiasm and Sony’s Live-Service Strategy
Yoshida emphasized that The Last of Us Online was Naughty Dog’s venture and not something that Sony had decided on. While PlayStation has been pushing to shift more live-service games, he made it clear that first-party studios are not compelled to do so. He did confess, however, that some teams make their games fit into Sony’s larger business agenda so they might have a greater opportunity of being greenlit.
Following the cancellation of The Last of Us Online, Naughty Dog can now wholeheartedly focus on developing single-player games. Even if audiences never got to see the potential in the multiplayer game, Yoshida’s announcement does reveal to us that it was indeed a project that happened, just a not-so-successful venture under PlayStation’s ever-shifting objectives.
Though Sony is scaling back on its live-service ambitions, it is unlikely that The Last of Us Online will be brought back. However, gamers can look forward to Naughty Dog’s next massive single-player game, which has yet to be announced.
