‘The Last of Us’ Multiplayer Delayed: Naughty Dog Pumps the Brakes After Bungie Feedback
Bungie is nervous that the highly-anticipated Naughty Dog multiplayer The Last of Us didn’t have legs.
The Last of Us was written and directed for the PS3 by Neil Druckmann with Bruce Straley as co-director. The game takes place in a post-apocalyptic world where people were taken over by a mutated fungus, turning them into mindless zombies. The main story follows Joel, who’s hired by a group called the Fireflies to take a young girl named Ellie to the Massachusetts State House. Unfortunately for the two of them, nothing goes according to plan. Joel and Ellie end up fighting to survive and to get her to the Fireflies in one piece.
The game was a massive success selling multiple versions of the first game, a sequel, a hit TV show, and a multiplayer mode for the first game called Factions many enjoyed. The multiplayer is rarely talked about since the story was so beloved and the PS3 servers shut down in 2019. The PS4 version is still up and can still be played right now with 3 modes called Supply Raid, Survivors, and Interrogation.
The Last of Us 2 was confirmed to be having a multiplayer mode of its own in 2018 and was eventually scrapped out of the release to focus on the story they were telling. Naughty Dog revealed this was not the end of the mode and they were going to release the new multiplayer as something else. Eventually, it was revealed to be an untitled live service game and has been pushed back constantly due to the scope of what they want to do. It’s been three years since The Last of Us 2 came out and fans at this point just want a release date. Seems they are going to have to wait a lot longer.
Delays, Delays, Delays
Naughty Dog went to its Twitter Page and announced that the game was being pushed back once more. The game’s development is still underway and just needs more time for them to deliver a good experience. They also hinted that they are working on a new single-player experience and no word on if that is part of the new multiplayer game or just a separate title they haven’t announced.
— Naughty Dog (@Naughty_Dog) May 26, 2023
It has been some time since it changed from a separate mode into its own title and no one really knows what the game will be like at this point. The latest game delay is apparently due to Bungie according to a report from Bloomberg and VGC. Sony had acquired Bungie last year with one of the reasons being to help with its live service plans and it seems they are having them evaluate in development live service titles.
You Ain’t Got No Legs, Naughty Dog
According to the report from Bloomberg, Bungie’s evaluation of the game was that the game might not have the content or gameplay loop needed to keep players playing the game. The report claims the team working on the project was scaled back while Naughty Dog and Sony look over what they can do to increase long-term playability while not causing quality to dip. After Bloomberg asked about this report to Sony, Naughty Dog released its statement on the game.
via Naughty Dog
The statement shows that there is probably some truth to the report since game companies usually just stay quiet if a news report is way off base or if it is such an outlandish report that they deny it. Naughty Dog is making it a live service game and this isn’t something they are known for, so the report makes sense. Live service inexperience is what killed Marvel’s Avengers with Crystal Dynamics unsure of how to make one, especially during the work-from-home change.
I trust Naughty Dog a lot when it comes to story and I am unsure if they can pull this off. The Uncharted and Last of Us multiplayer modes were well received when they came out but never really had staying power outside of the hardcore fans who stuck around when possible. We will just have to wait and see if this untitled multiplayer game ever really comes out.
“Oh hello. Sorry, the dinosaurs are busy right now.” Ellie, ‘The Last of Us Part 2’
