The Last Of Us Online's Cancellation Was Not A "Bloodless Affair"

Summary

• The cancellation of The Last of Us Online had consequences that were felt at Sony.
• The sentiments surrounding Bungie's upcoming extraction shooter Marathon have not been positive.
• Sony's shift towards live-service titles has been a mixed bag.

The Last of Us Online's cancellation was not a "bloodless affair" with consequences being felt within Sony, according to a report from Jason Schreier (thanks, GamesRadar+).

The Friends Per Second podcast recently had Schreier on to discuss the recent layoffs at Bungie. Schreier discussed Bungie's current project Marathon, and Sony's push for more live-service titles within its portfolio.

Unsurprisingly, the sentiments he's heard surrounding Marathon haven't been positive. There's been very little positive news coming out of Bungie lately, in truth.

The Last Of Us Online Was An Expensive Mistake

As for Sony, Schreier revealed Naughty Dog's cancellation of The Last of Us Online last year wasn't "bloodless." "Naughty Dog's Factions [the multiplayer mode of The Last of Us] game was in development for something like four years, with a team in the hundreds," Schreier said. "That is an expensive proposition for something that was a miss. And that project getting cancelled was not a bloodless endeavour. There were some heads rolling at Sony as a result of that one."

The extent of these consequences is unknown, but Sony's recent obsession with pivoting highly successful single-player studios to live-service titles is a questionable strategy. In addition to the cancelled The Last of Us Online, Insomniac Games also had a live-service Spider-Man title that never saw the light of day (The Great Web).

According to a previous report by Schreier, Naughty Dog's decision to cancel The Last of Us Online was partially motivated by advice given to the studio by Bungie.

It's gratifying that Naughty Dog was able to recognise the studio would become beholden to a time-consuming live-service title in perpetuity, and managed to convince Sony to axe the project. We'll still be getting the stellar single-player experiences the studio is known for as a result of that hard decision.

Sony still has several live-service projects on the way, including the hero shooter Concord which is set to release on August 23. Anecdotally, the game appears to be devoid of anticipation and excitement and failed to attract a sizeable number of players during its open beta. 'Project H', a rumoured Horizon MMO from NCSoft is also reportedly still in development.

Bungie Sentiment Around Marathon Is "Not Great"

There doesn't seem to be much enthusiasm for Marathon over at Bungie.