Introduction
The highly anticipated multiplayer game 'The Last of Us Online' has been cancelled, much to the disappointment of fans. Developer Naughty Dog made the decision due to the significant resources required to support the game's post-launch content. This shift in focus from multiplayer to single-player games goes against the studio's usual approach.
Cancelled Project
The Last of Us Online was set to be the next big game in 'The Last of Us' franchise. However, the studio recently announced that the project has been cancelled. According to Naughty Dog, the game's massive scope would have required the studio to solely focus on live service games, which is not in line with their expertise in creating single-player story-focused games.
Studio's Statement
A statement released by Naughty Dog explains the decision: "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." The studio faced a choice between becoming a live service games studio or continuing to prioritize their heritage of single-player narrative games.
Future Projects
Although 'The Last of Us Online' has been cancelled, Naughty Dog has reassured fans that there are other big single-player projects in the pipeline. The studio plans to leverage the learnings and investments from the cancelled project for these upcoming games. However, no specific details about these projects have been released yet.
Historical Challenges
Games that shift from a single-player focus to a live service model have historically faced difficulties. An example of this is the Suicide Squad game from Rocksteady, which received poor reviews for its initial trailer. Significant delays have occurred as the studio works to rework the game.
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