NEW: Naughty Dog has significantly scaled down the team on its Last of Us multiplayer project, sources say, as it reassesses the game. Following Bloomberg's requests for comment, the company put out a Twitter statement today saying the game was delayed. https://t.co/mHluHOez5O
— Jason Schreier (@jasonschreier) May 26, 2023
Uh.
>Sony has invested heavily in "games as a service," or video games designed to be monetized beyond their initial sales through ongoing purchases. As part of that push it asked another of its video-game studios, Seattle-based Bungie, to evaluate the games across its portfolio. Bungie raised questions about the The Last of Us multiplayer project's ability to keep players engaged for a long period of time, which led to the reassessment.
Single and multiplayer games generally require different skillsets to develop. Although Naughty Dog has found some success with multiplayer modes in some of its titles, the company is primarily known for developing single-player hits. Still, fans were excited for the project and raised questions after it was not present at a PlayStation video game showcase this week.