The Last of Us developer, Naughty Dog, has confirmed that The Last of Us Online has been officially cancelled.
Earlier today, Naughty Dog posted on their website that they have decided to stop development of The Last of Us Online. The standalone multiplayer game had been in varying levels of development since The Last of Us Part II was released back in 2020.
The Uncharted developers say in their blog post that in the build-up to going into full production, they realised the scope of the task and had to make a decision between throwing all their eggs into being a live-service studio, or continuing with driving single-player narratives, and they chose the latter. They go on to say that they are thankful for the efforts of everyone who worked on the project thus far, and will use the information and wisdom they gained from The Last of Us Online to help create new projects.
This news is not necessarily expected, but understandable, as the release of The Last of Us Part II Remastered releasing early in the new year, and season 2 of HBO’s spectacular hit The Last of Us expecting to start production in February. Naughty Dog is also apparently busy with a couple of new titles in development that they have yet to announce, so where they would find the time to work on The Last of Us Online is anybody’s guess.
The Last of Us Part II Remastered is a remastering of the fantastic follow-up to The Last of Us Part I, and takes place roughly 5 years after the events of Part I. Ellie and Joel have settled down in Wyoming in a community, but a violent event rips Ellie from her peaceful life and sends her on a journey to carry out justice.
Season 2 of the TV show is expected to follow roughly the same storyline, with a few liberties and differences similar to how Season 1 worked as well. With Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey slated to pick up their roles and Joel and Ellie respectively, the casting of Abby remains a mystery at this point, so as soon as we know here at CGMagazine, you’ll know too.
