Naughty Dog scraps The Last of Us Online to focus on single-player games

Naughty Dog has also revealed it has more than one new single-player game in the works.

Naughty Dog says it's scrapping The Last of Us Online to work on new single-player games. (Image: Sony)

Fans of The Last of Us who were hoping to play with their friends online will be disappointed to hear that Naughty Dog has officially canceled the multiplayer game it was working on in the same universe.

The studio revealed the news on Thursday in a blog post, saying that it had been in pre-production on The Last of Us Online while also developing The Last of Us Part II. The team was excited about the project, but faced a tough choice.

“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,” Naughty Dog wrote. “So, we had two paths in front of us: become a solely live service games studio or continue to focus on single-player narrative games that have defined Naughty Dog’s heritage.”

The studio decided to go with the second option, and announced that it has more than one new single-player game in the works. Naughty Dog did not reveal any details about these games.

The Last of Us Online was already facing some challenges, as Naughty Dog delayed the game in May after Sony reportedly had some concerns about the direction of the game, according to Bloomberg.

Fans of The Last of Us can instead look forward to the release of The Last of Us Part II Remastered on January 19th, 2024, which will feature enhanced graphics and performance for the PlayStation 5. The HBO adaptation of the game is also expected to return for its second season in 2025, following the success of the first season.

The decision to cancel The Last of Us Online also reflects Sony’s shift away from live service games. The company had planned to release 12 live service games by March 2026, but now it only intends to release six.