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In a new conversation on the Lance E. Lee Podcast, former Naughty Dog director Vinit Agarwal opened up about what happened with The Last of Us Online. Throughout the lengthy discussion, Agarwal said that the project was around 80% complete at the time of its cancellation. As for the reason behind this move, Agarwal said that Naughty Dog simply wasn’t in a position to support the game for the long haul without taking away from its upcoming single-player titles. Ultimately, those in charge at the company chose to can The Last of Us online, despite having dedicated so much time to it.
“That was a devastating moment for me because I spent seven years working on that game and it was soul-crushing,” Agarwal said. “I remember honestly finding out that it was getting cancelled 24 hours before it was announced to the public. That’s how I found out about the game getting cancelled and it was just unfortunate and they had to do that because they have to control the messaging.”
Elsewhere in the podcast, Agarwal explained that funding for The Last of Us Online was beginning to run out in the wake of player engagement falling off on PS5 after the conclusion of the pandemic. Because of this, Sony was beginning to shift its priorities around, which led to it deciding not to give the project the resources and funding that it needed.
The Last of Us Online Was Exactly What PlayStation Has Been Chasing
The ironic thing about The Last of Us Online being scrapped is that it’s the exact type of game PlayStation has been looking for throughout the PS5 generation. Live-service titles have become a major focus of PlayStation over the past few years, but none of them have broken through outside of Helldivers 2. Concord failed so spectacularly that it was shut down almost immediately after launching, while projects at Bend Studio and Bluepoint Games were ended before they could ever release. Even now, PlayStation has other upcoming live-service games like Horizon Hunters Gathering and Fairgames in the works, but it’s hard to know if either will end up being a hit.
