The first season of the TV series adaptation of the video game The Last of Us was a hit for HBO when it aired earlier this year, and many viewers are eagerly looking forward to season 2, which is expected to start filming in January. This would seem to be the perfect time to release a new entry in the video game franchise, and in fact the folks at Naughty Dog have been in pre-production on a The Last of Us Online multiplayer game ever since they released The Last of Us Part II back in 2020. Sadly, that game is never going to make its way out into the world. Naughty Dog recently announced that The Last of Us Online has been cancelled.
In an update on their official website, Naughty Dog wrote, “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.“
The story of the The Last of Us video game is set years after a fungal plague wiped out much of humanity, transforming most into vicious zombie-like monsters, the story follows Joel, who’s living in a militarized quarantine zone. He has a close relationship with Tess, who operates in the black market of this community. Together, they’ve become known by the local criminal underworld for their ruthlessness. On a mission to reclaim their stolen guns, they run into the leader of the Fireflies, a resistance group, who tasks them with smuggling a young girl named Ellie out of the zone. This mission soon becomes much more than they were prepared for.
It would have been fun to have an online multiplayer game set in the world of The Last of Us, so it’s a shame it had to be cancelled.
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