The Last of Us Online Was Much Bigger Than Expected

The Last of Us Online Was Much Bigger Than Fans Realized

For years, The Last of Us Online was one of Naughty Dog's most mysterious projects. Announced as an ambitious multiplayer experience connected to the The Last of Us universe, the game ultimately disappeared before fans ever got the chance to play it.

Now, new reporting is putting the project's scale into perspective.

The Last of Us Online Was Not a Small Side Project

When Naughty Dog first announced its standalone multiplayer project, the studio made it clear that it was building something substantially larger than the original Factions multiplayer mode.

Naughty Dog described the project as a full-scale standalone game with a massive world and said it was significantly expanding the studio to build it.

That description is becoming even more significant in light of recent reporting.

Bloomberg journalist Jason Schreier has said that the majority of Naughty Dog's staff was not primarily working on Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet during the earlier period of development. Instead, much of the studio was working on The Last of Us Online or remakes and remasters. After the multiplayer project was cancelled, many developers moved over to Intergalactic.

Why Was The Last of Us Online Cancelled?

Naughty Dog officially announced the cancellation on December 14, 2023.

The studio explained that as development moved toward full production, the enormous scope of the project became increasingly clear. Supporting the game after launch would have required Naughty Dog to dedicate its resources to post-launch content for years.

That created a difficult choice: become essentially a live-service studio or continue making the single-player narrative games that had defined Naughty Dog. The studio chose the latter.

The decision did not necessarily mean the game itself was considered a failure. Naughty Dog said the team had refined the concept and was enthusiastic about its direction. The problem was the long-term commitment required to sustain the project.

Did The Last of Us Online Cost Hundreds of Millions?

That is one of the most attention-grabbing claims surrounding the latest reports.

The Gamer has reported that the project may have cost hundreds of millions of dollars.

However, there is an important distinction between a reported estimate and an officially disclosed development budget. Naughty Dog has not publicly confirmed a specific “hundreds of millions” price tag in its cancellation announcement.

For that reason, the figure should be treated as a report rather than an established fact.

What Happened After the Cancellation?

The cancellation ultimately allowed Naughty Dog to redirect significant development resources toward other projects.

One major beneficiary was Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet, the studio's new science-fiction IP. Recent reporting indicates that the project became the focus for much of the team after The Last of Us Online was cancelled.

In hindsight, The Last of Us Online therefore represents more than an unreleased game. It was a major chapter in Naughty Dog's development history and an example of how expensive and demanding a modern live-service project can become.