The Last Of Us Online Devs Celebrate Their Experience With The Canceled Game

The Last of Us Online went through plenty of ups and downs throughout its development before its eventual demise. The project has now been canceled after a myriad of struggles, but the impact it left on the devs has been profound and bountiful. As a result, a bunch of Naughty Dog devs have taken to Twitter to celebrate all the time they spent developing the multiplayer spin-off and the experience gained from it. 

The technical designer Nathaniel Ferguson, who played a pivotal role in shaping the title, shared his melancholic remarks to the world after its cancelation, calling it a “highlight of my career.” The dev dubs it a special project and acknowledges that it is a sad occasion but points towards a brighter future for Naughty Dog. 

I worked on this from the time I was hired in Feb 2022 until yesterday, it's absolutely been the highlight of my career, and will always be a very special project for me. So it goes.

A sad day, but very bright horizons ahead for sure. https://t.co/WftyptMRC9

— Natty (@ngmferguson) December 15, 2023

Kat McNally, the dialog director, also added her two cents and paid homage to the canceled The Last of Us Online title. The dev gave a big shoutout to the combat QA and dialog teams and asserted that it is always hard to let go of your hard work for even bigger ambitions.

It’s never easy to have a game cancelled, but I’m so proud of my studio and everything we accomplished on this project. <3 big shoutout to my combat QA and dialogue teams https://t.co/XHdLHuk1eA

— ‘npc-kat-1’ is stuck pathing into wall (@TheAttackKat) December 15, 2023

Similarly, the game designer Karl Morley took things a step further and claimed that The Last of Us Online was more fun than any multiplayer game he has ever played before and since. The designer also iterated that working on The Last of Us Online has helped evolve the portfolio and skills in the process, helping him learn more from the project than any other of his works in his career. 

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Naughty Dog recently announced to halt the development of the awaited multiplayer spin-off due to its live-service nature. The team realized that it could either choose to become a live-service studio or focus on its single-player endeavors like in the past. The devs chose the latter to ensure the studio stays true to its legacy and innate talent. However, the tragic news has been hard to swallow for fans and devs alike.

Nevertheless, all the “learnings and investments in technology” will be used in its future projects. So, not all has been in vain. And the original blog has teased a promising future for Naughty Dog.

Multiple single-player games are already in development behind the curtains of the studio. One of these single-player titles could be the rumored God of War 3, while another appears to be a whole new fantasy IP altogether —initially teased in TLOU Part 1. Another The Last of Us mainline title is also not off the table, per the rumors.