Naughty Dog cancels The Last Of Us Online
The developer didn't want to become a "solely live services games studio"
Naughty Dog has stopped development on The Last of Us Online.
The studio shared an update about its multiplayer project in a blog post on Thursday, in which it stated the decision came down to what maintaining an online service game would mean for its single-player titles currently in development.
"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 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."
It concluded: "We are immensely proud of everyone at the studio that touched this project. The learnings and investments in technology from this game will carry into how we develop our projects and will be invaluable in the direction we are headed as a studio."
Earlier this year, development on the multiplayer title was cut down following a reevaluation, with its team reportedly being scaled back and developers moving to different roles.
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