According to Shuhei Yoshida, it was Bungie who encouraged Sony to pull the plug on Naughty Dog’s live-service title.
With The Last of Us franchise being one of, if not the most renowned Sony games and live-service devotee Jim Ryan still serving as the CEO of Sony Interactive Entertainment despite his then-impending departure, many were surprised when the studio pulled the plug on Naughty Dog’s multiplayer title set in The Last of Us universe in late 2023, officially announcing its cancellation. Recently, former SIE Worldwide Studios President Shuhei Yoshida shared new details on TLoU Online’s shutdown, revealing that it was another studio that influenced Sony’s decision to cancel the project.
Naughty Dog
Speaking on the Sacred Symbols+ podcast (via PushSquare), Yoshida revealed that the game was already in a playable state when it got canned, stating that he “played the game and it was great.” However, according to the ex-president, Destiny creator Bungie later explained to Sony executives that live-service games need not only to be shipped but also maintained, which apparently was enough of an argument for the studio to cancel the project in favor of Naughty Dog’s sci-fi adventure title, Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet, revealed at last year’s The Game Awards.
“The idea for The Last of Us Online came from Naughty Dog and they really wanted to make it,” Yoshida said. “But Bungie explained what it takes to make live-service games, and Naughty Dog realized, ‘Oops, we can’t do that! If we do it, we can’t make Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet.’ So that was a lack of foresight.”
Additionally, the former president shared insights into Sony’s overall approach to live-service titles, emphasizing that no first-party studio has been directly forced to develop live-service games.
Instead, studios usually choose themselves to focus on particular initiatives when they see what the higher-ups are most interested in at the time, hoping that catering to the whims and wishes of executives will increase their chances of getting a project approved and supported. “It’s not like [CEO of Sony Interactive Entertainment Hermen Hulst] is telling teams they need to make live-service games, it’s likely mutual,” notes Yoshida.
Naughty Dog
In hindsight, the cancellation of The Last of Us Online can be seen as the beginning of Sony’s shift in priorities, marking one of the first live-service games to be scrapped. Since then, the studio has also taken behind the barn an unnamed project from London Studio, a Twisted Metal live-service title, a Destiny spin-off from Bungie, two games from Bend Studio and Bluepoint Games, and, of course, the infamous Concord. Most recently, they also postponed their multiplayer heist simulator, Fairgame$, to 2026, with the gaming community’s feedback to this particular title suggesting that, in this case, canceling the game before it ever launches might be in the studio’s best interest.
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