After many fans wondered where The Last of Us multiplayer project was during yesterday’s PlayStation event, we now have answers. Unfortunately, it is not what you were hoping to hear.
Today Naughty Dog has posted an update about the game on Twitter: “We know many of you have been looking forward to hearing more about our The Last of Us multiplayer game. We’re incredibly proud of the job our studio has done thus far, but as development has continued, we’ve realised what is best for the game is to give it more time.”
Many were surprised by the announcement, considering Neil Druckmann, Co-President of Naughty Dog, announced earlier this year that we would learn more about the project later this year. Fans are outraged by the announcement, as it has been four years since the game was announced, with no actual footage or specifics about the game disclosed. With this news, we may expect it to be a while before we hear anything else.
Bungie influenced the decision to reevaluate TLOU Multiplayer
Bloomberg reporter Jason Schreier released a lengthy article claiming that the game’s development team has been significantly downsized. Bungie (developers from Destiny 2) reportedly “rigorously” assessed live service games in development by Sony’s first party studios, including The Last of Us Multiplayer, raising “questions” about the viability of keeping gamers engaged for an extended period of time after being owned by PlayStation. Naughty Dog made the public announcement when Bloomberg asked PlayStation for comment.
The chances of seeing any new updates to The Last of Us multiplayer this year appear slim, which is a shame because we have been waiting for 4 years, since before The Last of Us Part II was released, to see more on the intriguing project. With the project appearing to require revision, we may assume that at least two years of development time have been added on top of what was originally anticipated, implying that the waiting game has just begun.
We are not having a good week Naughty Dog fans, hang in there.