The Last of Us Online Was “Great” But Canceled—Here’s Why

Former PlayStation executive Shuhei Yoshida has revealed why Naughty Dog canceled The Last of Us Online.

The game was in development for years and was reportedly “great,” but the studio decided to stop working on it. The main reason? Bungie explained how difficult it is to make a successful live service game.

Naughty Dog first announced the cancellation in December 2023. The studio said it had two options: focus all resources on The Last of Us Online or continue making single-player games. In the end, the team decided to stick to what they do best—story-driven single-player adventures.

Bungie, the developer of Destiny, reviewed The Last of Us Online and shared insights about running live service games. After hearing Bungie’s feedback, Naughty Dog realized that keeping The Last of Us Online alive would take too much time and effort.

This would have prevented them from working on their next big game, Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet, which was announced in 2024. Sony has struggled with live service games in recent years. Some projects were canceled, and others, like Concord, failed badly.

The company spent millions trying to make live service games work, but most ended up getting shut down. Even The Last of Us Online—which had strong potential—couldn’t survive Sony’s changing strategy.

Now, Naughty Dog is focused on single-player games again, and Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet is their next big project. While some live service PlayStation games are still in development, Sony has clearly scaled back its original plans.