The Last of Us Multiplayer Project Is Officially Cancelled

I'm so sad about this. I was really looking forward to this. Factions was one of my favourite ever multiplayer modes in any game.

I respect their reasoning though. They'd rather focus on singleplayer experiences than become a live service games studio.

Thanks a lot Bungie. You can't even run your own studio.

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.

Atleast they made the right decision, and nice to see they weren't forced by Sony. Maybe there's a chance for a Jak and Daxter remake after all.

Also hopefully TLOU 3 will have a slimmed down Factions mode in it as I'm sure they won't let their work up to this point go fully to waste.

Can't believe this. The first one was so stellar online. This is disappointing and worrying for all the wasted money and resources focused on multiplayer online games.

I respect their decision. I’d rather have naughty dog making the single player games we all know and love instead of going the games as a service route.

Never found TLOU interesting in the least bit, but this is the right choice regardless. Naughty Dog makes great games, and while some won’t please everyone they deserve to focus on their passion and not a live service dumpster fire. Don’t get me wrong, not all live services are bad but having a single player narrative driven studio go that route is not going to be smooth sailing.

Should have just put the mode in TLOU Part 2 instead of going full on game. A shame either way tho naughty dog should stick to single player experiences. Will be interesting to see how much Bungie helped before the cancellation or if they led to it

A shame but if it really was either of those two paths then they made the right one. I loved Factions and was really excited to see what they had in mind for the follow-up but I wouldn't want it at the expense of Naughty Dog single player excellence.

Chin up Naughty Dog. You'll get through this.

I think they made the right decision.

Excellent news! They made the right decision. Looking forward to more excellent single player games.

Although it’s a shame to see this end, I always would choose Sonys First Party’s to stay focused on Single player extravaganzas than dip into Live Service games. I would like to have seen what they did work on, but maybe it will make an appearance in the inevitable Last of Us Part 3 as a factions 4 on 4 session.

Nice and it shows Sony position about services. They aren't "forced" anymore.

I’m so torn about this. I LOVED the multiplayer in the last of us, so I was really really looking forward to this game, in fact the only live service game I was excited about.

On the other hand, if it was between that and them continuing to make great single player story driven games, I’m glad they canceled it.

Feel like bungie pulled the plug on this to give Marathon a better chance of not being dead in the water. 😔

Well at least the studio is now free to fully focus on their next game (TLOU 3 or new IP), but to say that Naughty Dog’s output this generation so far has been disappointing would be an understatement.

Hopefully this makes Sony understand that studios who specialize in single-player games shouldn’t shift to a live service model, and also that not all multiplayer experiences should be built as live services.

Sad to see this not come to fruition but if it's what is best for the studio and the devs then best to leave it.

@PlushiePlushie let's be honest, doesn't matter if people "hate" bungie right now, marathon will make 10 times what a tlous mp could make, the question now is if Bungie will learn business first.

How could they not work some sort of factions mode into Part 2 remastered I have no clue. They were working on it until what, 2019, and then since 2020?
On the bright side, full steam ahead for Part III, which has the most impossible task of any sequel in any medium that I know. How do you one-up a one-up of perfect?

At this point, I'm fine with them killing it in the crib. Naughty Dog should focus on what they and many other Sony studios are good at: single player games.

So they didn't realize how many devs are required to keep a lover service going? Very poor planning by the studio, they also turned off comments.

If they did it right, mp game in tlou world has a potential. I was looking forward to it.The faction mode in TLOU 1 was quite enjoyable. I guess the project becomes too big for them to handle.i hope it comes with some MP mode in their next game.

@gymratAmarillo I agree, Bungie have great games in them but they need to sort their own house out (quite big D2 fan btw) so I don’t hate Bungie, they are just a mess of a company right now

Actually this is good news. I respect their decision and their candor about it. It makes no sense for them to transform their studio into something different at the expense of the thing they do best.

And I do firmly believe all the time and energies spent on this MP project won’t be all for naught. They likely have a few aspects of their cancelled game which they can pull forward and use in the single player sequel. I saw plenty of evidence of part of Uncharted 4 that were influential into what was done in TLoU2.

Wonder why they couldn’t let another Studio take over development while they continued working on their single player games.

Definitely stings, but the right call ultimately. Would love to know the full story someday

No surprise. But do we now have to wait even longer before we see anything come from ND?!

I feel like every cancellation and focus change is now kicking game release cans down the road further.

Please prove me wrong, Sony!

Tragic but the right decision, it’s better than releasing something broken/unfinished.

That’s actually good news

This is definitely a failure of PlayStations studios all around. Naughty Dog got too ambitious, and Bungie’s evaluation ended the last glimmer of its original concept. I don’t want a live service last of us. Literally just give us Factions 2, just a decently sized but really fun multiplayer mode that doesn’t need additional updates. I hope they revisit factions for Last of Us 3 and I’m happy to hear that SP is their focus (would definitely rather have this future than the one where they’re a live service studio), but man I just wanted another Factions

All of this wouldn't have happened have they just made it into a normal MP add on mode like with Ggost of Tsushima Legends but I'm guessing due to Sony's emphasis on GaaS, the project was too ambitious for its own good. It's a shame because I would have love ro play the game's combat against or with friends.

Should have made factions 2 for Pt 2 Remastered and be done with it. Its massively frustrating because it likely means we'll only see 1 new title from naughty dog for the whole of the PS5 generation - and thats if we're lucky at this point. And this is a story that will be repeated across many other fp studios. Its a gamble that clearly hasnt worked and ultimately has left the mid life period of the console feeling light from a first party perspective.

With that said, i have full sympathy with all who worked so hard on this title. I hope they can turn their frustrations into something even more rewarding in their next release

This is a major bummer. I really enjoyed Factions and was always anxious to see the mode expanded.

I'm glad they decided not to be Live Service studio, but it seems like there must have been an option between the two extremes.

What's sad is no one, and I mean no one, was asking for a live service version of Factions. No one. All we wanted was an expanded and improved version of the first. The first was VERY FUN. It had LOADS of potential in regards to ways it could be fleshed out, expanded upon, and deepened.

Only the top brass wanted to make it into such a large product that it'd require constant attention.

Factions is an old school mp experience in that people played it because it was fun. Not because it had constant hot new skins or because you could drop the gritty on your slain foes.

Had Sony and Naughty Dog been reasonable with what they were building and simply made an old school, fun-first mp mode that they built out, supported with some new maps and modes every few months for a few years, and maybe sold some xp boosters or ***** for ongoing revenues... literally no one would have complained. It would have sated long term fans and possibly attracted a new audience.

With THAT kind of title, they could have done something reasonable that wouldn't have forced a studio shift, satisfied fans, and had at least some form of long form revenue stream to boot (it's a business, I don't fault them for seeking more money).

Sony did this to them. ND did this to themselves. And Bungie ***** em both. Hard.

Years down the drain with no other game in sight. Utterly disgusting. Wasting talent(or are they losing talent?). Naughty Dog out here making remakes nobody asked for(but🤡 online justified the existence of) and remasters. This studio looking poorly ran. Is Jim at fault? Hermen? Neil? Probably all 3.

While not for me. For those interested it's unfortunate. Second though why would Sony waste such money? They can't compete with multiplayer successes, especially not an exclusive one it's a waste of time. It's a waste of resources too. What they do best is probably more worth it. They did PS3 era multiplayer/PS4 with Uncharted 4, if it didn't do much then they should have known then.

They think too much about money then 'oh this competitive title will flop' yeah I wonder why. I don't have much experience with Naughty Dog multiplayer modes but did it have to be 'that' competitive at all? There is multiple ways they could have done it than such scale/expectations/Jim pushing for every big money making possibility then what the studios are good at, what fans expect, what DLC they can make to support it then multiplayer on that scale and oh Fortnite is big, yeah and it has crossovers and way too far ahead. Why bother. Make what works, and small multiplayer, or small project spins. Not look at the big giant in a space and keep trying to combat it. Last of Us Factions would compete with Ubisoft's offerings, COD, PUBG and more. It's always too crowded, Fortnite works because of it's artstyle and it's business model the more realistic ones can but I mean a tv show and cinematic stories makes sense. I don't care for them but it's more aligned business wise and what newcomers/fans expect not something of a survival mode or other things. The world is an apocalyse yes but did they need to go so far no I don't think it was worth the time and money.

I mean it's like the Mass Effect multiplayer team making Andromeda, they can but is it a good idea, no, multiplayer/singleplayer design is very different after all and requires different things especially in ongoing 10 years or forever climates even if they wanted 2-5 years or something at least it's still a lot of work and too much to split teams up or dedicate that much time to.

Then again the roguelike elements for Part 2 Remastered is a surprise, needed no but kind of cool even if just trend following still even if not something the studio has done before so it's different still but I mean Resistance 2 was enough for me to just go 'why Insomniac would you waste your time' and 3 had more of their DNA in it so like why not keep on track not trend follow and waste your time.

Did they not learn from GT5 and Last Guardian at all? Their biggest Japanese studio spending and development hell projects being pushed back so far.

If they knew it took too long to work out details/progress wasn't going well the first time they should have cancelled it earlier or did they and we just only hear about it now? Which is likely.

Either way why not get a multiplayer skilled studio instead? Why Naughty Dog if they yes had done Uncharted/Crash Team Racing/Last of Us (I know staff vary in a studio over the years and split screen offline vs. online is different and multiplayer has changed over the years).

Also isn't Ghost of Tsushima's multiplayer enough for that kind of thing? An Uncharted 3 style multiplayer chapters was awesome it's one of the things I did a few times in that game with a family member. It's the reason I keep the PS3 copy as the PS4 version doesn't have it. Or however Factions successor would be? Or Last of Us 3 has more story importance for the tv series to continue I guess? So postponing/cancelling.

While I am just coming up with possibilities I still don't care. I haven't cared for a Naughty Dog game in years. Let alone many of the current IPs but I still acknowledge them as existing for an audience out there and interesting to see what they come up with on the sidelines.

Isn’t this exactly what everyone wanted?

I don’t see why they couldn’t have made the game, support it for 5 years or so and then drop it.
Not every game has to live forever.

Very good, now people can finally shut up about factions.

"focus on single-player narrative games that have defined Naughty Dog’s heritage."
The right choice was made. ND was making Factions 2, Jim Ryan & Bungie thought they were getting a Fortnite skin selling, FOMO & engagement baiting pyramid scheme. It's better this way sadly.
The new people in charge at PlayStation should do exactly what the old people did: let Naughty Dog cook up TLOUIII or whatever they're making and stay out of the way.

It's clearly for the best. I'd rather Naughty Dog keep providing top tier single-player games.

aand that’s why my ps5 is just a exclusive machine and nothing else anymore . ps plus is a joke, sonys variety output is a joke .

Probably worth remembering that a small team was working on TLOU Online & it had been down to skeleton crew for the last few months.
The main team have been busy working on something else.

The right choice given they were given only those 2 options but the big mistakes were forcing Factions 2 to be live service and getting Bungie involved.

Look at Nintendo, they're still making multiplayer focused games that have the kind of post-launch support you'd see from the PS3/360 era rather than going live service and that's going extremely well for them.

Now there's this awkward situation where the only way to play Factions on PS5 is the PS4 remaster because the PS5 version only has the single player.

All I wanted was Factions 2.0. Nothing more nothing less.

This is good, a honest and straightforward information. I hate life-service games and they are mostly failing. ND made the right decision to keep its excellence and fanbase. Bravo! I just hope Sony keep ND IPs away from Bungie.

What a great shame. Couldn't future development and maintenance have been moved over to another studio (maybe custom built) a little after initial launch?

Obviously if having had to choose between a single player Naughty Dog studio and a live service one I'd pick the former; I still don't understand why that was a necessary choice to make.

I can't help but wonder, based on all the leaks, where this project would be had Bungie not been brought in. That acquisition is looking to be the worst of Jim Ryan's legacy.

Expected, a bit sad that we don't get Factions 2, but I would be way more depressed if they turned into some GAaS studio. Glad they're focusing on SP. What sucks is that this project has probably pushed any new game they have in the oven, further away.

Good.more single player games is what i want.word up son

The correct decision.

I’m more interested in hearing what the 1+ new games will be. Most likely one is TLOU Part 3. Wouldn’t be surprised if the other(s) is a new IP

I'm glad they've decided to just focus on their singleplayer games. Factions was great but I don't want them to end up like Rare.
Like others have said maybe they'll rework it as factions if they do a TLOU spinoff.

@CWill97 If I remember correctly all we know is that it's a sci-fi game.

Personally slightly relieved but I know people were excited for this. Bring on a new Uncharted! Or at least something that isn’t The Last of Us or a remaster.

it sucks , i wish we could have seen what they had made though. excited to see what they are working on though.

Naughty dog sucks this gen im sorry insomniac games is the new vip of PlayStation.

@Athrum they've already said a few times , that the production of the remaster of 2 and the mp game didn't take anything away from the single player projects they were working on.

@Athrum I'm not sure if it pushed anything further away. They're a big studio with almost 500 Devs and different teams were working on different games.

NOOOOOO!! ... this was one of the big titles i was excited about from Sony’s live service push. i agree with many of you that i am sure it’s for the best but i wish it could have worked out. It’s a game i would have lost 100’s of hours in. Sony needs some live service games bringing in continued big money to fund raising costs of game development. As i have seen many on here say they beat Spider-Man 2 and traded it in and don’t plan to play it again. Single player games as fun as they can be just don’t make enough money most of the time. I am sure Sony still has a few great titles for live service in the pipeline but i am sad to hear this one is now officially canned.

Single player>>>>> multiplayer

Having read the article I still have to ask: is this FACTIONS or a different online project all together?

Ahahahahaha what a massive flop. I knew Sony's strategy of online games would be awful and now we see it was a sh*** idea before it even started lol

I am so grateful that Sony's plan to focus on live-service games is flopping. Sony and their community needed this to flop. The game industry at large needs this push for live-service games to flop. Live-service games cannot, and should not succeed over focused, creative single-player experiences. I know there are a lot of people who play multiplayer games that will be sad about this, but I am so grateful that Sony and their studios are backing away from this gaming model.

@Jswift56 agreed. But minor correction...'IS' stellar. And it still has a regular player base on PS4.
R.I.P. PS3 factions.

wow. just astonishing really. the level of mismanagement at sony must be off the charts for this to occur. something doesn't smell right, though. particularly this part of their explanation:

"Become a solely live service games studio or continue to focus on single-player narrative games that have defined Naughty Dog’s heritage."

why does it need to be one or the other? why not both? nd has two studios after all. once developement was completed on factions, couldn't nd hand off the rigns to another studio to manage future updates? wasn't bungie supposed to assist ps studios with its expertise? shouldn't nd have known this from the beginning? if so, why take on the project in the first place knowing that it preferred to focus on single player games? none of this adds up. ultimately, it sounds like 5 years of development time was wasted on this project and nd has nothing to show for it. i think we are only getting 1 nd game for the entirely of the ps5 generation at this rate and we all know that is going to be last of us 3.

as a playstation fan for many years, the current state of sony is very concerning. i expect to hear of similar cancellations for many of sony's gaas projects over the next couple years. of the eleven that are currently in development, i believe 5 more will be canned due to lack of vision and mismanagement. many of us on the forums have been calling sony out for its gaas strategy and it looks as though our concerns had merit.

sony, stick to what you are good at. single player, narrative driven games. cancel all of your gaas plans now and save yourself the financial loss. yes, many people are getting fatigued on sequels so let this be an opportunity to invest in some new IP with some new ideas before it is too late.

For me this reassuring news, but reading these comments sounds like a lot of folks disappointed. Sorry guys.

The right choice was made here.

Thank god. Stick to what you’re good at. Nothing wrong with having a multiplayer COMPONENT to your games, but GAAS is a voracious, resource hungry beast.

Well that’s disappointing. Not going to pretend like I know how to run a successful development studio or a multibillion dollar corporation so I can only assume this was the best decision going forward. Really looking forward to whatever Naughty Dog does next.

What a sh*t show.

Though, Uncharted 2-3’s multiplayer and Factions are my all time favorite multiplayers. I’m being serious. They are my favorite over COD, Battlefield, Apex, EVERYTHING.

I just wanted a Factions 2 that was a slight improvement over Factions at best.

Sony continues to annoy the absolute hell out of me.

@B_Lindz glad to see you are celebrating people getting laid off and losing their jobs. you are clearly a great person.

Bro... They should be getting close to releasing a new game but NO, they had to fart around for YEARS... YEARS on this cancelled project. So I guess we just get maybe 1 Naughty Dog game this generation? Maybe...? The management needs to be completely upended after this.

@Splat Well if what they said in the post is true that if they continued with this they would have to devote most of the studio to maintaining it in perpetuity. Then I'm glad its cancelled.

@get2sammyb i agree i wanted to explore the world of last of us and maybe get a view at all the different factions that we saw a small glimpse in last of us 2. i hope they take some of that and put it in their eventual new last of us game.

Oof let’s hope all that work didn’t go down the toilet and maybe can contribute to part 3

Sony seemingly finally realizing the live service ***** isnt working and no one wants it. Its not wrong of them to try to get in the space but build around a new team built for it not from a single player team which is what playstation has built their brand around and loved for

I'm not really into multi-player, but if it needed just a little more time in the oven, they could have released it as a $5 game when it's ready. Sell it cheap and tell people if it has undeveloped features, that this was the prototype, but some features are not available or fully realised.

@Contimaloris Disappointed they said they were working on 2 new games

@Contimaloris i already posted this , but they said many times that the mp project didn't have anything to do with their single player projects and didn't effect them in any way. maybe instead of believing everything you read on the internet maybe wait for them to officially announce what they are working on?

It's music to my ears. The more of these live service games that die the better. Single player through and through!

IMO story, characters, and world building are what ND do best whereas their weakness is stuff like shooting mechanics. Multi-player live service I doubt would have worked well. I've never cared much for the MP in Uncharted games though either.

They never should have made factions 2 such a large game. All the fans would have been happy with an updated game with new maps as an extra mode in TLOU2. Very poor planning and execution. Now the fans are left with nothing after baiting us for years. Truly embarrassing business practice.

I don’t understand why single player games cannot be live service. I’m loving GoW Valhalla and will be buying the Last of Us DLC next month. I would buy DLC every few months if they kept adding content.

@RBRTMNZ i mean assassins creed is a single player live service game , pretty much anything with dlc these days is actually live service. people just assume live service means online only which it doesn't.

@Ken_Kaniff agreed, but we have to consider the finanial losses associated with all these cancellations. sony was throwing millions of dollars into a money pit which it will never get back — money that could have been used for the game development of other titles. remains to be seen just how bad things are going to get for sony over the next few years as more gaas projects get cancelled after years of development. just how much damage has jim ryan done to the playstation brand?

How is it possible that a studio that should be big considering how successful their games have been would only be able to make and support one game? That part makes no sense, especially since Insomniac and others can make multiple games at one time.

Everyone said they are wasting time and money for factions 2 and for remasters-remakes. I can't see how this is a good thing at this point in the middle of the generation and their bigger project doa. I hope till the end of the generation they will release at least one Single Player game because this looks really bad for the studio with only remaster and remakes in this gen.

@twitchtvpat Well if what you say is true then they should have a game ready in 2024 if their timetable lines up with their other recent releases. But I'm not gonna hold my breath. Maybe those "other single player projects" were TLOU part 1 and TLOU 2 remaster? If so its still years away from something new. Not sure why people insist on spinning this as anything other than a horrible mismanagement, as well as an insane waste of time, money and talent.

Sad news for the studio and those who worked on it, but personally very happy to hear it.

There's only so much innovation a live-service game is going to generate, and as soon as those servers go you’re screwed.

Naughty Dog make truly memorable single player experiences, and I can’t wait to see more

Ha, I'm sensing TLOU 1 remaster REMASTER, for ps5 slim.

I'm actually surprised that they cancelled it as they could've made a lot of money fleecing us for paid skins and weapon so instead we get remastered versions of a game which didn't need it.im talking to u TLOU2

I'm guessing Sony is seriously rethinking live service games after all the recent live service flops.

@Porco I agree, and I guess Sony will just have to learn there lesson the hard way. I believe this is just the beginning. Imo Fairgames and Concord will probably both fail as well. Sony will definitely lose alot of ground to MS over the next five years. They will have droves of exclusives while the Sony faithful probably get maybe one single player game a year. What Sony has put out up till last year was the tail end of Shawn Laydens time. This year was a joke with just Spiderman coming from Sonys first party studios and I fear it will be worse in the coming years. Like you said the effect Ryan had on Sony will be seen over the next few years.

Gutted for the fans. Not overly bothered for myself as I could never get into Last of Us (god know I wanted to badly). I also feel sorry for the devs who had dedicated time. But looking forward to a quality game from Naughty Dog

Good. Focusing on proper single player games is the right call.

Well, I actually agree with this...

There is already a huge market for multiplayer/online/MTX games, and I feel that ND are far too proficient in making excellent single player games for them to invest (or 'waste' resources in making Factions.

'Sunk Cost Fallacy' can often lead to continuing development in half-baked projects (not to say this would have been that) and I think it is the right call to cut losses now, as opposed to further pursuing this avenue.

I wish they would also focus less on the remaster angle, and even park TLoU franchise for a while, and give us a brand new IP...

I don't get it still. Naughty Dog has already done both phenomenally. I've got more than 600 hours into Uncharted 4 MP. I happen to love it's gameplay and found it's MP component the best way to experience the gameplay.
Just do the gameplay of The Last of Us Part 2 and couple it with competitive aspect. No fancy ongoing live service groundbreaking industryshaking world shattering nonsense. Just let me experience that amazing gameplay with a competitive component. What a disaster Naughty Dog has become.

PushSquare should make poll of this.

I think it is the best news in couple of months and I feel only sad for all those hours and money wasted on (any) multiplayer.

People will likely not like me for this, but think this is a good sign the fact they decided not to go the live service route.

Great news to me!

Hopefully most live service attempts by Sony will get canned in order for them to return to what they’re known for: single player adventures

Thanks Bungie i was looking forward to this 🙄

Single player is the only player, good to see last of us isn't online it's story and plot 1 st one is excellent I've deleted the 2nd one from my mind Joel is my chuck Norris kicks ass big evil became good. 2nd game plays out as Ellie gets kidnapped and Joel brings hell on earth to bring her back home. Instead we got a modern day movie type o thing. I saw a lethal weapon 5 movie poster the other day I really hope that's made show how a good movie is made today desperately needs it.

@twitchtvpat Of course I'm not celebrating people losing their jobs. I hate that the awful business decisions of higher-ups and investors are destroying the lives of thousands of employees. I'm grateful that the game industry is shifting away from games-as-a-service. The reality is that if these greedy CEOs and stakeholders would take a pay cut to keep and pay their employees then most of the layoffs from this year wouldn't have happened.

Good move! Single player is where most of Sonys studios shine best and to be stuck supporting a live service game rather than pushing on making new games would really suck.

Little sad that we won't get the multiplayer at all but the push for live service is the problem. A normal multiplayer would have been fine. Live service would have meant no more big campaign games for a long time (if they didn't go on to make another).

Bungie shouldn't even have a say in anything, just lay out guidelines but that's it. I think it's better to just leave the live service stuff to them and let ND aswell as their other first party studios to keep doing what they do best

Become a solely live service games studio or continue to focus on single-player narrative games that have defined Naughty Dog’s heritage.

I hope certain people can finally stop saying that live services do not take away resources from single player games. Because you are hearing it straight from the horses mouth.

Good, they should focus on the third game

Was never interested in factions and its a crime the entire studio spent so long on it, but they started this project before Sony pushed for some gas games, so its a direction they chose themselves.
Faced with the choice, they made the right one. Looking forward to seeing the new projects.

That really sucks that all that time and hard work will be for nought, however, I am relieved...who wanted a live service game from Naughty Dog? Not me.

They should focus on what they are good at.

Good riddance! Sony's live service attempts are usually terrible. All the time and money wasted on this crap when Naughty Dog could've made Uncharted 5, TLoU 3 or a new IP. GaaS sucks. The market is saturated with them. Sony, focus on Single player content.

Poop for those who were looking forward to this, but from my perspective, this is awesome news 👍

Let's go! Uncharted 5!!

They deliberately made it a 'had to be a single player developer or live service' news to keep their fans happy so the fans of ND can say ''ooh see what a good decision' instead of the otherwise predictable backlash. There's no reason they couldn't have given the live service portion to a limited subset of the team or even another studio similar to how bethesda does it with elder scrolls online or fallout 76.

The real reason is that bungie didn't see 'profit/microtransaction potential', told this to Sony, who shut it down. Bungie, who are almost definitely going to get taken over by Sony anyways because they're not even making a profit themselves.

So sad about this. Was looking for this more than any other game this generation. Sony's deluded if they think they'll land a live service hit with a focus on aggressive microtransactions, without a naughty dog level of quality.

Ah man, with how much time and money has been put into this, I genuinely thought they would see it through. Gutted.

Waste of resources.

Should have put factions 2.0 in Part 2 and call it a day.

Factions is still fun to this day

Hm so I can state that THOUO was one of few the live service titles that I was looking forward to so I think it is a bit unfounate that the title got cancled so early.

I'm mostly sad that it's a lot of time and resources that amounted to pretty much nothing in the end.
However, if it was really between this and more single player ND games, I'm glad this was the decision they made.

Such a waste of time and resource. We have an old saying in our culture that the sparrow wants to follow a crow style and it ended up forgetting its own style as well! At least ND learned that they should keep their own style. Better than never

This is a shame. I'm hoping they can salvage a good chunk of the work into future projects though... I personally had no interest in an online multiplayer of this kind, but I would absolutely love something akin to Resident Evil 4.

Feels like we're at a really annoying point in videogames where innovation is really limited. I want to see the next generation of games... PS5 is just PS4 with less loading. I want an online The Last Of Us game where I am challenged to survive in a world that has other real players in it - not just shooting people on a map. I want to race in Gran Turismo against real drivers - not multiplayer 1 on 1, I want every race, online or offline, to have cars that have been driven by real people. I want FIFA to allow me to do whatever I want with the football, not just an algorithm of button presses.

This generation feels like it has stalled. We need more innovation.

Seems to me, the costs are so high that no-one is taking any real risks to push things forward. It's prevalent in the movies industry too. Genuinely a bit of a naff time all round!

Still wondering why Sony bought the paralysed Bungie for a whopping 3+ billions!!! A bit sceptical about Bungie until it proves otherwise

@ROBLIVION customer-wise or business-wise?

We can give a slow clap of victory that at least one game is starved away from the prospect of microtransactions 👏👏

I'm sorry, but this is just pathetic.
How many dev time was wasted on this project and how it is possible that studio like Naughty Dog had no clue how many people would be needed to sustain live service game?

This sounds strange to me. Couldn't they hire a separate team to sustain the live service game while the main ND studio went on to make single-player games?

@Godot25 thats why they hired more people for this project. but th4e writing was on the wall when they did lay offs.

@Contimaloris i guess we'll see when they announce their game, they are the only ones that know how long its come and when it comes out. its not spinning it , its something they said literally on an interview on this site , when they said it didn't take anything away from their new projects , btw that weren't last of us 1 or 2.

This is not as bad as it sounds. There are so many Live service online games, mostly with predatory microtransactions and overall dull repetitive gameplay loops.
Happy that they are sticking to what they are amazing at. Rocksteady did not get this chance.

Putting it out there - I think Sony, even though they decided their online focus after this was announced, has actually canned their live service approach.

All of the Bungie news, the silence after that horrendous showcase earlier in the year and now this.

I think we’ll get six months of silence while they change their studio’s focuses and then they will announce single player games as their focus with a showcase full of announcements.

Naughty dog haven't announced a new game in 7 years...

I'm happy they didn't go for the 'lets just be a live service company' option. Too many live service games being released these days that then die months later. At least single player games stick around

I don't really get this, surely they could have just handed the reigns to another studio that specialises in continued online support for a live service, and then Naughty Dog would be free to move on to other projects? I wouldn't have thought you'd have needed the OG supplying live service updates, maybe some oversight, sure... but putting all resources into it? I just don't quite believe their reasoning.

Factions 2 was the reason I got a PS5 over an XSX. My disappointment is immeasurable and my day is ruined.

@Ken_Kaniff 100%.

1-2 1st party single player games per year sounds about right for their expected output going forward. unless they already did a pivot from gaas, it is going to be a painful 5 years on playstation and sony is going to rely on 3rd party support to get them through it. there is the possibility that some gaas projects will be converted to single player games after jim's departure, but i won't hold my breath. i have no confidence towards their future plans and strategies as it stands because they have given us no reason to.

Definitely sorry for everyone that was looking forward to it but I was not one of them. I’m not a multiplayer gamer and I am definitely not a live service gamer. I would rather watch the TV series and play single player games. I agree though it should have been a mode n TLOU2 if anything, not a fully fledged standalone thing. That could please everyone at the end of the day.

The idea had amazing potential considering how great the online mode was but if they were struggling to make it work then it’s good that they cancelled. Get off Bungies back, some of you! There’s a high standard of quality with first studio content and if Bungie said it’s not a great idea then you respect their honesty in a world where people seemingly don’t want to accept the answers they need to hear

Why do people talk about TLoU Online as if ND was only making this one game? ND explicitly states that they are making more than one single player game. We know for at least a few months that there are multiple teams working on different games, so what's the problem, exactly? Most likely one being TLoU3 and the other one being a new IP.

They are working on both since what, 2020, when TLoU2 shipped? So both could already have 3 years of development, maybe one with a release for 2025 and the other for 2026, so I don't think the panic people are feeling makes sense.

A win for common sense!! In the gaming industry!!! Never.

Really pleased. Plenty of low hanging fruit multiplayer games available elsewhere

@-Sigma- Do you get the impression that they said this just to make people happy about the news; instead of being like, yeah, we totally screwed up on this one and just wasted years of development?

It's then explained that the full scope of the project was only realised when it entered full production, to the point where the developer could only choose one of two paths: "Become a solely live service games studio or continue to focus on single-player narrative games that have defined Naughty Dog’s heritage."

How else to hide they messed up then to just be like, hey how about we tell our audience that we would have had to become a fully live service studio if we released this game? Then everyone will be happy we cancelled it and totally ignore how long we’ve been working on it and not releasing actual new games?

Personally, I couldn’t care less for ND’s output, so it matters little to me, but reading this post it seems a little disingenuous the way they are presenting this.

Looking forward to whatever single player output ND has.

@reek saw your comment after posting mine….it does seem a little disingenuous on their part no? I agree with you on that score for sure!

@MrMagic a sci-fi game sounds awesome. Could be pretty different than what they usually do. I’d be stoked for that!

I think we are going to continue to see stories in the near future that seem to indicate mismanagement at the upper tiers of Sony (gaming arm). There seems a real focus to rake in cash peddling hardware of the hype of the initial ps5 release, riding that until it dies down and yet not offer much in terms of actual application.

There is only so much excuse making a given fanboy or girl can regurgitate, before the continued indicators suggesting complacency, and greed driven decision making continues to point to a state of things that have really hurt the first party trajectory this gen. I think 2024 is really going to be continuation of little to zero communication and a ghost town of First party content. Yes of course there is some third party stuff to look to and eventually whatever Sony has cooking will release, but it doesn't negate the fact that this generation is looking to have a very underwhelming period of time.

No amount of fluffy excusing making, glass half full dreaming, and attacking those with concerns will change that.

Good, multiplayers full of cheaters anyway.

I kinda saw this coming. Hardly any news had been shared about it and the fact we hardly have any information from other studios is equally worrisome.

I just hope Sony’s first party situation isn’t in some kind of grave trouble following the Ryan departure and the gaas game fiasco.

Hooray! Death to the live service trend!

Naughty Dog, like Konami, has gone from one of my favourite studios to one of my most despised.

@Mrlebowski 2020 is 7 years ago?

@AngiveL let me guess when they announce what they've been working on , you'll instantly love them again? sorry that just sounds like a pretty fickle approach imo.

@Kingleo31 its not though , people keep forgetting how many studios they have and how many of them are currently developing single player games.

@twitchtvpat What game did they announce in 2020?

Best news I've heard regarding Sony's plans for the future of Playstation, since their statements about making more and more GaaS games. It was starting to look like they've forgotten that their current success was built for the most part on their exclusive epic Single Player games...
After seriously considering giving up on Sony's consoles (given PS5's limited exclusive lineup 3 years after launch, ridiculously increased prices for PS+ yearly subs, and the GaaS warnings Sony kept spewing), getting the PS5 Pro next year is looking again like a possibility. But we'll see what exclusive titles they announce until then. PS+ is not really necessary but without a proper exclusive line-up, PS5 Pro won't be worth it.

They made the right call.

@UltimateOtaku91 Then I'm happy it bombed but why does it mean you can only become one kind of studio instead if looking at it from a game to game basis?

Not surprising at all

That is excellent news!!! I am so glad they are dropping multiplayer games and continuing ALL their focus on single player playstattion exclusives. Naughty Dog are excellent at making sngle player games.

Naughty dog ALREADY had 2 single player games in development. The fact that people believe this cancellation changed anything shows how gullible people are,you tell them certain phrases and they will lose critical thinking skills.

Nothing has changed you’ll just get nothing until 2026.

Good news just concentrate on what you do best. Amazing single player experiences:)

This is a win in my books. Work on what you’re great at. If you want to be a joke, let Microsoft buy you.

This is the best news we've had all year.

Live Service games exist to make money constantly and that means either paying constantly or putting up with gameplay balancing towards incentivising further purchases (usually through frustration mechanics).

No game has ever been made better for being a live service and the model is a cancer on this industry that's ruining videogames.

People say that without the microtransactions the games they like wouldn't get updates, but the games often only exist to push microtransactions. Case in point, no one's complaining that Naughty Dog were making a multiplayer game, they were complaining it's s live service. People wanted a multiplayer game. Sony, on the other hand, only wanted a live service, or nothing, so we get nothing. For the Players indeed.

In an alternative universe, this could've been a great game, enjoyed by many, with no live service, no extra purchases and game geared towards fun not paying.

@Mrlebowski last of us part 2 came out in 2020 duh. if they did announce a what they've been working on , i'm guessing you'd complain and say , " why announce these games way too soon when they are years away or have no release date"?

@MattBoothDev i'll play devils advocate , the best news you've heard all year , also equals to people getting laid off from their job. they brought on extra staff for this game , and alot of them were the ones who were laid off because the game is no longer being worked on.

@twitchtvpat Seems you misread my first comment.. I said they haven't ANNOUNCED a new game in 7 years, which is true. TLOU 2 was announced in 2016...do try to keep up😂

@Mrlebowski ok? there is no point in announcing games that were years away. instead of worrying about announcing games or showing them off , i'd rather they just work on them. but thats just me.

@twitchtvpat Great, I'd rather they made new games instead of 2 remasters, a remake and a multilayer game that was cancelled. With their new game probably 2 years away that will be 1 NEW game (TLOU2) in 9 or maybe 10 years.

Naughty Dog's management by Neil D and Jim R has been a ***** show.

For me, TLOU 2 remains a polarising game and I'm sure the HBO show will face a similar reaction ALL over again. Why? Because the show will market Joel and make it seem like the season will be about him. Just like the game's marketing did.

The way forward is without Neil. Fold the cancelled game into a single player game. Make it uncharted. A female protagonist would fit the series really well and rival Tomb Raider. Kill off TLOU. I don't want to know what happens to Lev (?) and Abby. They can stay in purgatory.

Good, great even. Don't be an ea, making a single player rpg focused company like bioware to make live service games. Or squareenix, making single player action heavy focused company like platinum to make live service games.

It will only end badly for both the studio and the publishers, wasting talent and money.

I might be one of the happy few who were relieved when reading the news. I am 43 years old and so invested in single player experiences and stories who hates multiplayer and live service games. Well I am forced sometimes to play Fortnite with my son but this is it (call me old school) 🙈🤗

@twitchtvpat sure, but the alternative is they kept on going down a path that would have seen them release games no one really wanted to buy and potentially end the studio.

Also maybe this article, or another, but it suggests staff have been moved around into other projects.

@EfYI eh, TLOU2 was only polarising to the terminally online. It sold really well and was lauded with over 300 awards.

People will watch the show and buy the games.

@MattBoothDev

It seems that not ALL is well at ND, so much we can agree on, I'm sure?

If you are right (and I get the sense you think the show will be well received overall with no controversy of import), then the SHOCKING turn of events will only fan the flames of fandom canonising Neil Drugman into auteur stardom.

We will pick this up in a year or two and one can have a laugh over the other, deal?

@EfYI Game of Thrones had plenty of shocking deaths people didn't see coming and people still watched. Hell, Pedro Pascal was one of them.

I'll agree all is not well at Naughty Dog. They've just pivoted massively and essentially thrown away a couple of years of work (or releasing some of it with this upcoming remaster).

The push to live services is likely the issue. Not Neil Druckmann.

So, Naughty Dog have decided to stick with what they do best.
Firstly, this is a good thing.
Secondly, it is not a surprise. Is it?

Good news. Don't know anyone.my age who can afford to spend life playing live service. And there's a lot of us still playing into our 50s.

@TechaNinja One big problem with that. It doesn't make money.

@MattBoothDev

You and many others are Neil Drugman apologists. However, he was very quick to defend the project:

'Neil Druckmann assured fans that the project would be ‘worth the wait,’ and earlier this year Druckmann said that The Last of Us Online is by far the ‘most ambitious‘ game that Naughty Dog has worked on.'

Not all is lost, in my opinion. They need to fold the game (without a ***** battle pass) into the re-re-remastered TLOU2 that is coming next year.

@MattBoothDev but they weren't one of the two main characters. Game of Thrones was an ensemble show.

@MattBoothDev you would have a point , if there wasn't several interviews on this site , that naughty dog said that the those projects the remasters the mp project , didn't have any effect on their single play games they were also working on. its not like they put everything off to the side just to work on the mp game.

@EfYI he's the company president. He's not going to dog on the company.

@naruball GoT ended up terrible so probably wasn't a good choice anyway. Point was no one cared when it happened in the game, just the terminally online/reddit

@twitchtvpat sure, and, the comments section is filmed with people, like me, who didn't believe them 😂

@Grumblevolcano Agreed and for multiplayer hits yes they have servers for their games but do small scale royales. Tetris 99, Mario 35 Pacman, F Zero 99 and more. Quick projects, some third party ones.

They scale them accordingly, not overly massive projects that studios think needs to happen. Sometimes small ones are fine. Besides Tetris, Mario, Pacman being big names and F Zero 99 may lead to more who knows, probably not but it's game design that was expanded or cut down to suit the format (Mario 35 being a few parts/few levels strung together).

If even speedrunners/challenge youtubers can work this stuff out using existing games it can't be hard for studios to work around their assets/new assets for smaller games, different modes to existing ones if they want to.

Just like getting better times in a racing game, finding challenge in what restrictions people want to add (seen many racing game challenge videos, limiting themselves on what they can do due to the games having particular restrictions in events, so could be country limited cars, could be what brands, no upgrades, only prize cars/no buying, whatever unique systems the game has, switching to the next always, 100s of possibilities with old games depending on their design to allow for that while some new racing games are too restricted, too linear, too impossible to make a challenge around then restricted but balanced/open enough, means how much further can we go but it's still playable/dissecting the game technically too) because they know the games inside and out already what they can do to add/remove rules on top of things.

Upgrades (can apply to any skill tree game but it is too harsh as games usually base themselves around it, probably earlier games where you can ignore them more or any games with stats not being too high to impact the game, so probably any games with certain gear or low stats. Played Ratchet Tools of Destruction without the skill tree it's weapon differences aren't that important compared to other games so it's possible even if the base armour runs are their own difficulty settings then later games.

I played Scaler with no abilities other than camouflage 1 as you can't progress the game without it but base attack damage, base bombs, no camouflage increase upgrades and more, it was tough but an interesting experience to survive combat encounters, use 1 bomb and work around no convenience of the others, for combat or for collectibles whichever suited more to risk), people do Ratchet wrench only runs and more, particular details, limiting one's moveset, base stats, anything is possible with anyone's board game house rules as well.

It's why I don't find the roguelite ideas for Ragnarok/Last of Us 2 that bad of projects to work on, they are minor additions to those games, probably fair amounts of enjoyable for players to experience.

2 Remastered is a hit and miss but depends on how much the series/that entry or that content means to someone as well.

@MattBoothDev sounds like we'll find out sooner then later. i'm sure if you are wrong you aren't going to be too upset while you are enjoying whatever they are working on.

@MattBoothDev

Your arguments are beginning to stretch a little thin. "Terminally online" is a term like "basket of deplorables" and it conveys unhealthy contempt. Besides, who isn't online!? It is a very wide category.

@AK4tywill Yeah I'm really not seeing how it was one or the other. everyone is just accepting their PR speak framing. not sure why.

Obviously they aren't going to say "yeah we could have scaled back our mp ambitions but then that wouldn't bring in gaas money so Sony had us cancel." But that's ultimately what happened.

@EfYI basically, TLOU2 sold really well, despite the leaks and online controversy. The controversy surrounding the game had basically no effect on sales. Much like how Hogwarts did exceedingly well despite online tantrums.

The controversy existed within a bubble. You are sure the HBO show will draw the same polarising effect as you saw within the bubble, but, given the above, you're unlikely to be correct.

You've tried to label me a few times and think I'm an apologist either way. I just liked the game, thought it was fun, well done and had some excellent attention to detail. Phenomenal graphics for a PS4 and a good swan song for that generation of consoles. The controversy was annoying, one side was extremely rabid, toxic, illogical and unpleasant (much like the Hogwarts game, though with a polar shift).

Take from that what you will.

@MattBoothDev "Point was no one cared when it happened in the game, just the terminally online/reddit"

Absolutely. Internet is an angry place.

@twitchtvpat Huh?
That's an insanely weird assumption.
What do you mean by fickle, do you know what the word means?

I've been pissed at NaughtyDog for several years because of how they've misshandled and neglected U4 MP, so I have no idea why you'd assume I was being fickle?
I even threw in the comparison to Konami and everyone's been pissed at them for years too, no? And not for One singular thing, mind you.

@AngiveL yes i know what it means , i'm the one that said it , that's completely off topic and has nothing to do with what i said though. i just found it weird to all of the sudden people hating on them even though they've been working hard on games and haven't even released them yet.

@MattBoothDev

1. First things first. You came into this debate labelling the criticism as belonging to those who are terminally online. I think there are varying degrees of criticism, and so I feel your rhetoric is reductive. By the way, I checked Neil's Instagram. There are numerous examples of deplorable behaviour towards him which is inexcusable and there ought to be severe consequences for that. That is the 'polar' to which you are referring which contrasts the ridiculous criticism thrown at Hogwarts, I agree. I am questioning if you need to moderate the sincere narratological criticisms out there.

2. Sure, it sold well. A TECHNICAL marvel, and many, like me, avoided spoilers. As it should be. However, the story soured the experience for many (I am not claiming a majority here, but enough to make a dent in their fanbase). This is an opinion based on anecdotal evidence, I haven't done a survey😂

I rest both mine and your case. Please wrap it up.

@naruball
Where would people go to voice their criticism if not a public space like the internet? Are you sending bottles across the ocean containing your Letterbox'd reviews?

@twitchtvpat I would've been more upset if they become a "live services" studio, that's for sure. I really, really didn't care for that idea.

@EfYI 😂 you don't get to "wrap up" my arguments like that.

I said it was only polarising to the terminally online and spent a few more posts clearing that up. I maintain that position.

I don't discount your experience, it is your own, but you have to realise the phenomena where only pissed off people leave bad reviews. Most happy customers don't go out of their way to leave a good review. As mentioned, the game sold really well and won many accolades.

TLOU2 is around the 9th best selling Sony game of all time, at 10 million sales, just beating Ghost of Tsushima (another amazing game) for that place.TLOU1 and the remaster sold around 20 million together.

You say it's had a dent in the fanbase, but it sold about as well as the first game and the TV show had great ratings and viewership. I think you massively overestimate how many people hated the game/story and that colours your perspective.

@EfYI there is a difference between expressing valid criticism and 90% of your posts being something negative. Some people use the internet just to vent. That's my point. Not that everyone should be positive all the time and never express criticism.

Think of some old people who just complain about the noise, kids running around, the newspaper not being delivered at the right time, etc. People whose lives revolve around complaining and criticizing others because they're unhappy with their lives.

I prefer it when there is a balance.

@MattBoothDev
"I said it was only polarising to the terminally online."

This is somewhat a nonsense sentence, but I digress.

I need hard data to refute the underlying premise, which I why I said let's pick this up at a later date. I hear the music playing.

@naruball
You got me! I'm old! Most of my venting comes from many, many decisions and priorities within the SONY conglomerate I disagree with. Too many to mention.

However, most of my posts are probably answering others critizing/factchecking my opinion(s). I welcome that.

@twitchtvpat I have no idea what you're talking about, are you just saying words? What you said had nothing to do with what you said..? What the ***** does that even mean?🤣
You called me fickle out of the blue, a very weird misuse of the word, since you don't know anything about me to warrant the use of it.

I don't know what rock you've been living under, but there's Nothing "sudden" about the ND hatred, they've been given so much ***** the last couple of years. I have no idea how them working on other games has anything to do with anything..?