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The video game studio Naughty Dog said The Last of Us Online was too resource-intensive to complete without delaying the development of future single-player versions of the game.
By <\/span>Orlando Mayorquin<\/a><\/span>
The maker of the blockbuster video game The Last of Us, which was adapted into the hit HBO series<\/a> by the same name earlier this year, announced that it would cancel development of its long-anticipated online multiplayer version of the game.
\u201cWe realize many of you have been anticipating news around the project that we\u2019ve been calling The Last of Us Online,\u201d the developer, Naughty Dog, said in the announcement Thursday.<\/a> \u201cThere\u2019s no easy way to say this: We\u2019ve made the incredibly difficult decision to stop development on that game.\u201d
The studio said the decision to drop the game had come after it became clear that it would have needed to commit resources \u201cfor years to come,\u201d at the expense of future single-player games.
Naughty Dog said it was faced with two options: to \u201cbecome a solely live service games studio or continue to focus on single-player narrative games that have defined Naughty Dog\u2019s heritage.\u201d It chose the second option.
Work on The Last of Us Online started at the same time Naughty Dog began development on the single-player follow-up, The Last of Us Part II.
That game was released in 2020.<\/a>
Anxious fans of the video game got an inkling that The Last of Us Online was in trouble after the developer shared an update<\/a> in May.
\u201cWe\u2019re incredibly proud of the job our studio has done so far, but as development has continued we\u2019ve realized what is best for the game is to give it more time,\u201d the update read.
The Last of Us follows a bereaved father and a teenage girl as the unlikely pair traverses a postapocalyptic America ravaged by the global outbreak of a zombifying fungal infection.
The plot was critically acclaimed after the game\u2019s release in 2013, and the 2023 television adaptation starring Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey earned two dozen Emmy Award nominations.<\/a>
The death of The Last of Us Online was a particular disappointment to fans of The Last of Us Factions, a limited in-game online multiplayer experience<\/a> that was available in certain releases of the Last of Us game.
Naughty Dog\u2019s announcement drew a mixed reaction from the gaming community online.
Some agreed that the studio was better off focusing on new single-player games, while others questioned the studio\u2019s apparent lack of foresight.
Orlando Mayorquin<\/a><\/span> is a general assignment and breaking news reporter based in New York. More about Orlando Mayorquin<\/a><\/span>
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