Summary
One of the biggest losses of last year was the cancellation of Naughty Dog’s ambitious online version ofThe Last of Uswhich would have brought a new multiplayer title to the franchise. AsThe Last of Ushas grown in popularity through the years, the cancellation of such an ambitious project was disappointing to see, and with the recent success ofHelldivers 2, it seems as though Naughty Dog may have made the wrong move.
Helldivers 2has been one of the biggest surprises of the year so far. Arrowhead Game Studios has pulled off something truly special that much larger studios have tried and failed at when it comes to the live service model. With the growing live service fatigue growing among many gamers,Helldivers 2has become the golden standardfor a live service experience. FollowingThe Last of Us Online’s disappointing cancellation, it’s now clear that Naughty Dog could have had something just as special on its hands.
The Last of Us Online Could Have Been A Game Changer
The cancellation ofThe Last of Us Onlinewas especiallydisappointing for fans of Factions, the multiplayer mode that was available in the first game.
Naughty Dog May Have Scrapped The Project Too Soon
Although Naughty Dog’s reasoning behindcancelingThe Last of Us Onlineis understandable, the studio may have been a little too quick to completely retire the idea. The main reason behind ending development for the game was due to the ambition of the title. Naughty Dog claimed that the studio was unable to deliver on its promises due to the sheer size of the project, and as a studio that also works on massive AAA single-player games that would’ve been impossible to juggle.
Naughty Dog is also a much larger studio than Arrowhead Game Studios. The latter has only a fraction of the employees Naughty Dog has, and if a small developer could pull off something as impressive asHelldivers 2, it’s hard to imagine that Naughty Dog couldn’t have done something similar based around theLast of Usuniverse, at least with an internal department like Guerrilla is apparently employing for its own multiplayer endeavor. AlthoughNaughty Dog has a solid track recordof narrative-driven single-player games, it would have been interesting to see how the studio approached a new multiplayer experience after experimenting with Factions.
What Could Have Been for TLOU’s Online Game
Knowing how great Naughty Dog is at crafting compelling worlds with the likes ofThe Last of UsandUncharted, it’s sad to think of what could have been when it comes to a live service approach.Helldivers 2has managed something impressive, and it’s hard to believe that Naughty Dog couldn’t have done something similar. There was only a little information given about whatThe Last of Us Onlinewould hold, but it was pretty exciting to imagine.
Despite the game’s potential, it seems as thoughThe Last of Us Onlinewill be added to the list of games that were canceled before they got to truly see the light of day. As speculation grows regardingthe future of theLast of Usfranchise, Naughty Dog can at least focus on narrative-driven titles as a way to bounce back from having to cancel such an interesting live-service experience.
