A number of The Last of Us multiplayer developers have taken to social media to mourn the canceled project. TLOU online was apparently in a playable state when canned, with one developer claiming that it was the most fun multiplayer game they had played.
Canceled The Last of Us multiplayer’s main menu pic has been leaked
As spotted by GamesRadar, technical designer Nathaniel Ferguson tweeted that TLOU multiplayer has “absolutely been the highlight of my career.” He added that it was a sad day for him, but he sees a bright future ahead for Naughty Dog.
I worked on this from the time I was hired in Feb 2022 until yesterday, it’s absolutely been the highlight of my career, and will always be a very special project for me. So it goes.A sad day, but very bright horizons ahead for sure. https://t.co/WftyptMRC9— Natty (@ngmferguson) December 15, 2023
Game designer Karl Morley said that the project was a major learning experience for him and was the most fun he’d had playing a multiplayer game.
Absolutely gutted. And gutted for all the awesome people I worked with on this. I learned more on this project than any other in my career and had more fun playing this game than any other MP game before and since. https://t.co/EEs1RYH5wc— Karl Morley (@SheepGoMOO) December 15, 2023
Dialogue designer Kat McNally said that she’s proud of what the team accomplished and noted that the decision to cancel TLOU multiplayer wasn’t an easy one.
It’s never easy to have a game cancelled, but I’m so proud of my studio and everything we accomplished on this project. <3 big shoutout to my combat QA and dialogue teams https://t.co/XHdLHuk1eA— ‘npc-kat-1’ is stuck pathing into wall (@TheAttackKat) December 15, 2023
Over the weekend, known insider and leaker Dusk Golem shared a picture of the game’s main menu, which we won’t share here due to a potential copyright strike. However, a copy can be seen on ResetEra. The image reveals that Naughty Dog planned Battle Passes as part of its monetization strategy.