Cancelling The Last of Us Part 2 Multiplayer Wouldn't Have Been a 'Bloodless' Endeavor

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Following the release of The Last of Us Part 2 in 2020, developer Naughty Dog had plans to release a standalone multiplayer game. Prior to the base game's PS4 debut, the developer confirmed that this multiplayer aspect would not be released alongside Part 2, as originally planned.

In 2019, Naughty Dog explained that its efforts to evolve The Last of Us Part 1’s Factions multiplayer mode for the sequel “had gone beyond an additional mode that could be included in our massive single-player campaign” and would therefore be released separately.

The project then hit a series of roadblocks, with Naughty Dog saying more time was needed until May 2023. But despite this, the studio maintained that the game would make it all the way to last December, when the standalone multiplayer project The Last of Us was ultimately cancelled.

The Last of Us Part 2 Remastered: Roguelike Mode Explained No Return: TLOU2 No Return PS5 Gameplay. Watch on YouTube

At this time, the studio said that when faced with the choice between becoming a “live service-only game studio” or continuing “to focus on single-player narrative games” (which is what the studio is primarily known for), it chose the latter.

Naughty Dog has since not elaborated on the ramifications of canceling its long-in-the-works project. However, Bloomberg reporter Jason Schreier has now said that the move to cease development on the release was “not a bloodless undertaking.”

Speaking on the latest Friends Per Second podcast, Schreier addressed the recent layoffs at Destiny developer Bungie. During the podcast, the reporter described Sony’s live service push, along with the industry as a whole, as “trend chasing.”

“The list of games that have pivoted from single-player studios to attempts to make live service games that have just been disasters is very, very long,” he said. “I think I've done autopsies on a lot of them: the cycle is 'very successful single-player studio, pivot to live service. Spend seven years making a live service game that nobody wants. A live service game comes out, it's a disaster.'”

He then touched on The Last of Us, saying he was glad the studio managed to avoid that cycle by canceling its multiplayer. But even though the studio managed to break the cycle by not releasing its game, there were still consequences.

“I mean, Naughty Dog’s Factions game was in development for about four years with a team of hundreds of people. I mean, that’s an expensive proposition for something that was a failure,” Schreier said (thanks, Dream Walker). “That project, like the one that got canceled, was not a bloodless effort.

“Because of that, there were some heads rolling at Sony.”

Despite their previous boom in popularity, interest in live service games has waned in recent times, with 70 percent of developers now concerned about their sustainability, according to a recent survey. Meanwhile, the video game industry has seen devastating job cuts across the industry over the past two years as the post-pandemic dust settles.

As for Naughty Dog, Neil Druckmann recently said that the developer “is not going to be The Last of Us studio forever.” At the time, the studio head also said that Naughty Dog has several games in the works, including “multiple single-player projects.”

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