The Last of Us Online has been cancelled

[DesmaBR]

Quote

 

AN UPDATE ON THE LAST OF US ONLINE

We realize many of you have been anticipating news around the project that we've been calling The Last of Us Online. There's no easy way to say this: We've made the incredibly difficult decision to stop development on that game.

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. We're equally crushed at the studio as we were looking forward to putting it in your hands. We wanted to share with you some background of how we came to this decision.

The multiplayer team has been in pre-production with this game since we were working on The Last of Us Part II – crafting an experience we felt was unique and had tremendous potential. 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.

In ramping up to full production, the massive scope of our ambition became clear. 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.
We are immensely proud of everyone at the studio that touched this project. 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.

Until then, we're incredibly thankful to our community for your support throughout the years.

 

 

https://www.naughtydog.com/blog/an_update_on_the_last_of_us_online

Edited December 14, 2023 by DesmaBR

[JPtheNeurotic]

This really sucks 

[Rebourne07]

That's literally the best game cancellation letter I've ever read. They made the right decision. Sucks, cause I'm personally a big fan of Factions and was looking forward to this. But if its LoUOnline or more single player Naughty Dog masterpieces...I pick the later and I'm glad they did too.

[ThatMuttGuy]

Good

[Xylobe]

Unfortunate, but it's been a long time since any good news came out about the project (if ever?). If the choice was between this or becoming a dedicated live service studio, this was definitely the right call.

[MonaSaxPayne]

definitely not surprised (or upset) by this announcement

 

now if only cockstar would do the same with GTA online

Edited December 15, 2023 by MonaSaxPayne

[Pray_4_the_End]

To sum things up:

 

 

Edited December 15, 2023 by BlindMango
A post can't have just an image or mods will take it down (I know, dumb rule)

[yowzagabowza]

Well I sure as hell don't want Naughty Dog to be wasted as a live service studio, but I find it pretty unbelievable that a big ol studio like this couldn't do both. Not that I want them to, just seems like a lot of hubris to be like "our plans were so massive we'd have to have 250 people working on them AT ALL TIMES". 

 

Crazy that this was cancelled. I'd imagine that spells doom for that dumb bunch of live service games Sony was pushing to release. I think it's the right call

4 minutes ago, MonaSaxPayne said:

definitely not surprised (or upset) by this announcement

 

now if only cockstar would do the same with GTA online

Except that makes them billions of dollars? So why would they?

[Charizarzar]

If only they'd just been allowed to do Factions 2.0 instead of whatever this was.

[TheStark700]

Yeah, this sucks...but the best part of the news is:

 

Quote

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.

 

 

Edited December 15, 2023 by TheStark700

[CelestialRequiem]

Sucks for the team and the morale, I am certain. However, this should be a sobering reminder to Sony to have your specialists not try to gamble on a gaming system where the stakes have never been higher, and the reward has never been lower.

 

Even as someone who hasn't cared for Naughty Dog since 2013, I'd be lying if I said a GaaS title would have been the thing to bring me back. Naughty Dog has never excelled with a multiplayer-focused title, whose operation is long-term gains rather than day one sales. Though Sony gets to pay the financial price, I couldn't imagine having dedicated so much of my life for what is essentially a coin flip. You cannot buy time, and cancelled projects like these ARE career damaging.

More and more you read about GaaS titles being cancelled, and that's because even though the payout is large, there can only be so many players. Not only do you have to make an excellent game, but you need to prove its sustainability long-term, through engagement, and revenue. Though I don't care for The Last of Us: Part II, there is no doubt that Naughty Dog's efforts would have been better calibrated with a third entry in the series, and not this perversion for an avenue of gaming that is still in its infancy.

 

It's clear that the bigger titles are risky. 6% profit for a game as big as The Last of Us Part II is also risky. However, it's optimized risk, and that will likely be the return to form. Selfishly, this probably means that I have more time to complete the online trophies in The Last of Us: Remastered. Without being pessimistic, that game's online experience is probably superior to whatever this game was set to be, anyway.

 

It would have been bad optics to release a dud when the IP has never been as popular as it is now, thanks to the sequel and the HBO series. What a waste of time and resources.

[Lucibur]

I'm not a big fan of Factions with how toxic people could be, yet it was fun with friends when we did private matches and played public matches together. I was kind of looking forward to this, sucks it's not coming out, ever now.

Edited December 15, 2023 by Lucibur

[AK-1138]

Easily made up for by putting the PS3 servers online again for a week.

[Trancexistence]

As a fan of Factions in the first game, this is disappointing but probably for the best.

 

The fact they're "working on more than one single player game" I'm hoping means that one of them is Part III.

[BlindMango]

It's unfortunate to hear as I bet it was initially going to be fun, but then hearing the rumors where Sony was wanting to morph it into an "experience" that drains every cent from every player possible instead of just making a fun multiplayer game, that looked like a recipe for disaster

 

Does anyone know how to make a fun multiplayer game anymore without microtransactions, season passes, a "roadmap", skill-based matchmaking, lobbies that disband after every single round, and the list goes on? All they have to do is look at any PS3/360 multiplayer game as a template

 

Edited December 15, 2023 by BlindMango

[raiichan]

By the time they released TLOU Part 2, and as a fan of multiplayer and factions, I skipped the game and the hype of the people who were excited to play the game. I would save my energy and time if they ever released MP mode (I initially thought they were going to do it because of TLOU1 MP mode). Oh well🤷‍♂️

[Fiercethetear]

As sad as this news may be for some, the announcement seems honest and reasonable, kudos to nd for that

[Jeanolt]

I think they could've gave the game to Bungie or any other studio. I'm kinda glad anyway, this was dragged to long and was definitely stopping them. If only they released a "normal" factions online back in 2020.. we would have a new game by now.

Edited December 15, 2023 by Jeanolt

[SoliDeoGloriaIHS]

Thank God!

[GabrielMS13]

Maybe it's time to work on a new IP and let TLOU aside for a while. The studio could do wonders with a fresh start.

[monteblommie]

Completely shift strategy  to online games and hire bungie for their GaaS experience

Let bungie adjust and even cancel online projects of other sony first party studios

Naughty dog cancels what was probably the biggest chance of a succesful GaaS game

Bungie almost bankrupts itself and needs its entire leadership positions replaced 

 

It's truly a mystery why jim ryan is "retiring"

[Doctor_Gunner]

woke garbage studio

[SoliDeoGloriaIHS]

5 minutes ago, Doctor_Gunner said:

woke garbage studio

Well, you can blame the wokeness on Neil Druckmann, but I'll always love Naughty Dog for Uncharted.

[mad-man-matty-22]

21 minutes ago, Doctor_Gunner said:

woke garbage studio

define 'woke' for me real quick, i'll wait 

[Dry]

This might just be among the best, if not THE best cancellation PSA in gaming regardless of our own thoughts on the project, Naughty Dog or the present state of SIE entirely.

Edited December 15, 2023 by Dry