The Last of Us Online Cost PlayStation Hundreds of Millions Before Its Cancellation

Let’s state it plainly: PlayStation’s live-service strategy has not delivered the results the company anticipated. Over the past few years, we have seen cancellations, failures, and delays. Among the most notable casualties wasThe Last of Us Online, a title that never made it to launch.

While many may have assumed this multiplayer venture was a minor offshoot of Naughty Dog’s flagship franchise, a new report from one of the gaming industry’s most respected journalists reveals that this experiment reportedly consumed a massive portion of the studio’s budget and manpower.

The Last of Us Online Cost “Hundreds of Millions” of Dollars

Originally conceived as a supplementary mode for The Last of Us Part II, similar to the multiplayer component included with the 2013 original, the project gradually expanded into a far more ambitious standalone production.

Naughty Dog officially pulled the plug on the game in late 2023, with studio head Neil Druckmann explaining at the time that continuing development would have forced the studio to abandon the single-player experience to completely focus on this project.

In a recent video analysis of PlayStation’s troubled service-game strategy, Schreier offered additional context on the ill-fated project.

He confirmed that Naughty Dog poured an extraordinary amount of time and money into the project noting that it began as a modest initiative but ballooned into something far larger. Although he did not cite an exact figure, he reiterated that the project cost “hundreds of millions”.

Schreier also pushed back against the notion that The Last of Us Online was a parallel game handled by a small team. On the contrary, he stated that the majority of Naughty Dog’s staff was either actively working on the multiplayer title or occupied with PS5 remasters of previous entries. Only after the cancellation did those developers shift fully toward Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet, which helps explain why that game remains in progress.

The Last of Us Online Was Cancelled Before Almost Being Finished

Vinit Agarwal was the director and lead behind the online spin-off of The Last of Us. In April of this year, he opened up about the game, offering new insights that suggest production was already well into its final stages when management ultimately decided to pull the plug.

According to Agarwal, Sony poured significant reproject to receive substantial funding. By all accounts, development was progressing smoothly

He went on to reveal that The Last of Us Online was roughly 80% complete by the time Naughty Dog officially confirmed its cancellation. Agarwal also shared that he learned this just 24 hours before the public announcement and called it a “heartbreaking” and “devastating” decision.

It seems we may never fully know what the multiplayer spin-off might have looked like. In response, a group of fans launched an online petition, hoping to persuade PlayStation and Sony to reconsider. In addition, one particularly dedicated player developed a mod that introduces co-op functionality to The Last of Us Part II.

Would you have liked to see this project come to fruition? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

For more news on The Last of Us, click here.

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