Naughty Dog Rejects To Become A Live Service Studio

Naughty Dog has shared an update about The Last of Us Online on Twitter and clarified that it has officially pulled the plug. It was touted as a live-service title that would get years of support. As a result, the team was stuck at a major crossroads and had to decide the studio’s future. It could either go the live service route to give long-term support to the game or focus on its biggest strength —the single-player titles we know and love.

An Update on The Last of Us Online: https://t.co/nMUm7TmH9h pic.twitter.com/fmuXCLzDMB

— Naughty Dog (@Naughty_Dog) December 14, 2023

The studio eventually chose the latter for the sake of the community and the team. Investing resources into The Last of Us multiplayer spin-off was also exhausting a lot of resources and time, after all. 

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,” read the blog.

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However, not all is doom and gloom for The Last of Us fans. Naughty Dog added that it is working on more than one single-player project. The remark has drawn a lot of eyes, and users are already guessing about what the mystery title could be. One of the single-player games likely is the next The Last of Us entry that has sprawled up in rumors once in a while since last year. One other could be a whole new IP, as teased in TLOU Part 1.

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.”

Naughty Dog has also mentioned that the “learnings and investments in technology” from the canceled The Last of Us Online game will be invested back into its future single-player endeavors. The insider Dusk Golem has also shared a leaked image showcasing the game’s menu in a ResetEra thread.

Despite the dissatisfaction and impact of the new announcement, most of the gaming scene is not that surprised. A slew of rumors and recent moves made by the studio alluded to the cancelation of TLOU Online. Insiders either called its development “on thin ice” or basically “dead” at times. Additionally, Naughty Dog recently fired at least 25 contract workers who were allegedly related to its development.