Naughty Dog has officially announced that they have cancelled The Last of Us Online, originally called The Last of Us Factions 2. The news comes just a few months after insider reports that the game has stalled development. It is currently unknown what Naughty Dog’s next project is.
Naughty Dog initially announced The Last of Us Factions 2 during Summer Game Fest 2022. Originally, the multiplayer mode would’ve been part of The Last of Us Part 2. However, as the project’s scope increased, it became its own game. Earlier this year, the company delayed the project indefinitely.
The Last of Us Online Officially Cancelled
In a recent blog post, Naughty Dog announced that they have officially cancelled The Last of Us Online. The game was initially a multiplayer mode that would’ve released alongside The Last of Us Part II. As the developers increased their ambitions for the project, they delayed the mode and turned it into its own game. In the official announcement, Naughty Dog explained the decision, stating:
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.
Naughty Dog ended the statement by saying that they have “more than one ambitious, brand new single player game” in-development. Recently, the company announced that they will be making a remastered version of The Last of Us Part II, just three years after the game’s initial release. The upcoming release will mark the company’s third remake on the PlayStation 5, with a remastered version of Uncharted 4 and Lost Legacy releasing in 2022 and The Last of Us Part 1 releasing later that year.
The Last of Us Part II Remastered will be available on January 19.
