The gaming industry believes one of the best decisions Naughty Dog has taken this year is to drop the idea of The Last of Us Online. Fans and critics aren’t wrong in believing that decision either as they believe this might now spur them into dedicating time to creating more proper AAA titles.
The update by the studio a few days back on the 14th was met with disappointment among those who were looking forward to the multiplayer game. The reactions across the social media networks have been a mixed bag of disappointments with fans also hoping for a strong comeback by the studio.
The Last of Us Online Cancellation Was a Difficult Decision
With Insomniac Games stealing the thunder as the most successful PlayStation studios in recent years with back-to-back blockbusters in the Spider-Man franchise, Naughty Dog was pushed into its shadow.
Santa Monica Studio has also been killing it with the God of War franchise and the recently released free DLC, Valhalla, to the sequel also getting rave reviews, leaving the studio behind Uncharted with a lot of catching up to do.
Why Naughty Dog Cancelling The Last of Us Online Is a Good ThingSo, when the studio released a blog post announcing the cancellation of the live-service game, fans were disappointed but also continued to remain hopeful for a better AAA title in the future by the incredible studio. The studio’s blog mentioned the reason behind the incredibly difficult decision was to avoid “severely impacting development on future single-player games.”
Fans have been sharing their views on X about the cancellation and they’re a bag of mixed reactions. An X user named James stated that the decision to focus on more single-player games is a huge win in itself.
A contrasting post by another X user states how the years of leading fans to believe the online edition was under development and then to have it get dropped altogether was “truly unbelievable.”
A developer who worked on the game stated:
Am I allowed to talk about if I worked on the tlou mp thing now that it’s dead? Because if I could i learned a f**kton on that project and my heart goes out to everyone else who worked on it
To which Naughty Dog game director, Vinit Agarwal, responded saying:
We didn’t talk much directly to eachother, but your work was beautiful. Thank you.
Some pointed out how the studio had been surrounded by drama since 2020 and had also been working on The Last of Us projects for far too long, including a remake, a remaster, a TV adaptation, and now the cancellation of the live service game. Many think the studio should just work on a new title.
Naughty Dog Working on Several Single-Player Projects
The blog mentions deciding against going all-in and becoming a live-service games studio and decided in favor of more single-player narrative games as has been the studio’s heritage. Naughty Dog also mentioned having more than one “ambitious, brand new single-player game” which the studio is working towards, details and updates for which will be shared in due course.
We Now Have a Better Idea of What the Roguelike Mode in The Last of Us Part 2 Remastered Will Look LikeThe next known project by the studio is a remaster of the TLoU2 which is due to be released on the 19th of next month. The remastered edition will cost owners of the original game $10 to get the upgrade to the new survival mode named No Return, which is rumored to have at least 12 levels.
The studio mentioned the survival mode to be a fresh experience that will allow players to showcase their mettle in randomized encounters. Though it will not include a multiplayer option, the survival mode is also rumored to feature a new Guitar Free Play mode that will let players try out new instruments.
An X user, Intan, also shared their views that the timing of the Remastered edition of the sequel is a “weird business decision” after announcing that the live service game is being canceled. The studio also posted on X about the studio’s official decision to drop the live service game but also ensured nobody was able to respond to them by updating preferences. This irked fans even more as several fans posted against the studio’s decision to keep fans from responding.
Whether or not it’s downhill or uphill soon is anyone’s guess for the studio. A new direction and a new title altogether may just be the best decision ever made by the studio now.
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