The Last of Us Online has been cancelled

Why is the multiplayer space so broken that Devs can't just released a competent game without it needing to be supported for a decade with nonsense microtransactions?

Hopefully they can just create a standard multiplayer for TLOU3

None of this really makes sense anyway, I'd say the more likely story is that it wasn't coming together at all. If it was a manpower issue then you scale up that multiplayer team as they find success. Heck spin them off into a different Dev studio if needed. There's no shortage of talented developers looking for work
 
Fuck. This was like the only multiplayer I was looking forward to.

They did not have to reinvent the wheel. People just wanted Factions as a side mode, could have just been remade with updated graphics.

I expect a bit better output now though. Enough with the remasters and remakes.
 
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Their reason is that if they supported the game as a live service they'd not have the resources to work on anything else. But then why can't they just release a base game and not plan further content? Sure it won't have the legs of Fortnite (it never was going to anyway) but at least you recoup some investment and if the game is good people will still play it.

It could've been released as a discount title or it could've launched on one of the more expensive PS+ tiers as an incentive. I dunno, it feels like there were more choices than just "only do this forever or cancel the game".

I think based on the report of Bungie's prior critiques we can reasonably guess that the real reason is that Sony is only interested if they're going to get high ROI through mtx and Naughty Dog wanted to build a game instead of a skinner box.
 
Wow, would not have bet this. Was definitely wrong about this.

Major L for Naughty Dog in the short term, but maybe a major win for gamers in the long term.

Surprised they wouldn't at least release it as DLC then.
 
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pqueue said:
not any worse than the resident sony fan boy that just posted "Is Starfield and anti-system seller" or some other such nonsense.
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Yeah but you don't have to hear their voice. Listening to Boomstick or Destin for any length of time is just grating.

Salty Popsicle said:
Looking at the replies here, I'm going to wager PlayStation fans are even happier than Xbox fans about this news.
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I mean on the one hand, I'm glad Sony are actually revamping their GaaS approach into something leaner and better. On the other hand, I bet you most thought TLOU Factions 2 would be one of the last such games to get canned.

At least, I did :/
 
If that's true I'm glad they cancelled.
Yet it seems incredibly short sighted, as anyone could've guessed you'd need to pour a lot of resources into any live service game to keep it running and successful.
Thinking otherwise would seem stupid.
Also a 3rd path is definitely possible, get more people to develop single player games without any hindrance and continue forward with the online game instead of flushing all that effort down the toilet.

The real problem is probably because they can't make the gameplay-loop fun or keep it fun for a long time.
 
In ramping up to full production, the massive scope of our ambition became clear. 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. 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.
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Isn't this a concern they should have had BEFORE even thinking about doing a multiplayer game?
 
PlayStations 1st party single player games during this gen when it's all wrapped up I think is going to look very sparse and disappointing compared to previous generations. So far we are 3 years in and they have released only 1 new IP, Returnal.

I'm glad they are coarse correcting but they really messed up by putting so much money and time in GaaS.
 
Good stuff this thing was going to be trash anyway. GAAS version of the last of us online which was a stealth tactical arena shooter nah bro,

Next cancel that abomination of a GAAS the Horizon one and focus on what your known and good at.

Nintendo has done it for decades being the prime platform party game guys , Sony should stick to the gritty single player story/experience games and just make stronger ties to the GAAS guys.

You only luck out once and in Sony instance it's GT7.
 
I am sad that this has been cancelled as i was looking forward to it. I hope this cancellation doesn't stop Part 3 and their new IP from being developed/released. The future of Naughty Dog doesn't look good right now imo but hopefully nothing bad happens to the studio as they are my favorite Sony 1st party studio.
 
Traxtech said:
Use the mode as an add on to the next game, just like the original. Ideal outcome imo
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Blaming Spider-Man GIF
 
Years down the drain with no other game in sight. Fucking disgusting. Looking even more like mismanagement city.
 
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Me in 2017: Naughty Dog should just make a proper DayZ game.

Me in 2020: I hope Naughty Dog is just making a proper DayZ game.

Me in 2023: Why isn't Naughty Dog just making a proper DayZ game.

They still have 11 - 12 Live Service games in the works. This cancellation just means this was one of their weakest games. I'm fine with it.
 
I honestly think the picture of what has been going on behind the scenes with Naughty Dog and Bungie is starting to become clearer.
My theory is that ND started working on Factions thinking this will work fine with a small part of the studio maintaining the game post launch. Bungie came in and said
"No way you guys are gonna be able to run this game in parallell with SP game development".
Bungie revenue literally starts imploding short thereafter.
ND and Sony says
"F this, lets pull the plug on this TLOU Online experiment, too many risks involved"
 
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And this was the only GAAS i had some faith in being an hit considering the excelent TLOU multiplayer mode NaughtyDog made.

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. 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.
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They did the right choice, the last thing i wanted was to see NaughtyDog as a GAAS studio. Stick to what you do best.
 
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skit_data said:
I honestly think the picture of what has been going on behind the scenes with Naughty Dog and Bungie is starting to become clearer.
My theory is that ND started working on Factions, Bungie came in and said
"No way you guys are gonna be able to run this game in parallell with SP game development".
Bungie revenue literally starts imploding short thereafter.
ND and Sony says
"F this, lets pull the plug on this TLOU Online experiment, too many risks involved"
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That's actually a pretty reasonable timeline of events.
 
Joshmyersbv said:
Naughty dog is such a well run video game company. They wasted how many years on remasters, remakes, and a game that never came out? What a fucking joke.
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The Sony equivalent of Rare!

Them getting back to what they do best before they go 'full Rare' and start doing VR shit is the right decision.
 
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I was genuinely curious about seeing this. While this is a shame, it's also an incredibly start move. Because creating and sustaining a live service title and wanting to continue to do single player experiences at the same time sounds something that could definitely be overwhelming for them.
 
How was this even allowed to happen? You're telling me that one of the top studios in the industry worked on a live service game for years and didn't know that you need to continue to support the game post-launch with new content?

Nothing personal against Herman Hulst, but he has done an awful job managing PS Studios since he took over.
 
thicc_girls_are_teh_best said:
Of all the GaaS I expected Sony to cancel, this was the LAST one I thought they'd cancel. Wild shit!!
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Horseganador said:
Great news, they are finally focusing on what they should NEVER have abandoned, it is a shame about the enormous waste of time on this.
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Not for nothing but, this team was not where the bulk of their dev efforts were going into, nor was the work that was done here lost by any means. All i'll say on it.
 
It sucks to have years of hard work go down the drain like that.
If they weren't confident with the results, canceling it rather than shipping a half-baked mess of a game is a wise decision.
 
Well… there it is. I'm glad they're going back to single player but why was this game even a consideration for so long - does this mean they really haven't started developing anything else?
 
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