“It’s absolutely been the highlight of my career”
Following the cancellation of The Last Of Us Online earlier this week, current and former Naughty Dog developers have emerged to celebrate the mysterious multiplayer project.
After nearly four years of development, Naughty Dog canceled its untitled multiplayer spin-off, claiming it would require too many development resources and would detract from its upcoming single-player projects. In a recent statement, the studio stated that its options were to become a “solely live service games studio” or to continue releasing games like Uncharted and The Last Of Us, which had an unexpectedly good multiplayer mode in Factions.
In a social media post, technical designer Nathaniel Ferguson stated that working on the game has “absolutely been the highlight of my career, and will always be a very special project for me.” “A sad day, but very bright horizons ahead for sure,” he continues.
Karl Morley, the game’s designer, teased that he “had more fun playing this game than any other [multiplayer] game before and since,” a tantalizing tease for a game we’ll almost certainly never get to play.
“It’s never easy to have a game canceled, but I’m so proud of my studio and everything we accomplished on this project,” dialogue director Kat McNally says on social media, adding, “big shoutout to my combat QA and dialogue teams.”
It’s a shame to see any game cancelled, especially when it’s a possible sequel to something as unique as Factions. However, The Last Of Us Online’s former developers have been upbeat about the studio’s future plans, which include more than one “ambitious” single-player project, according to the studio.