Post Pandemic Habits Cancelled The Last of Us 2 Multiplayer Before Reveal

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I’ve spent over 237 hours playing the original The Last of Us on PlayStation 3, and I was really hooked on the Factions multiplayer mode. Because of that, it’s been difficult for me to accept Naughty Dog’s decision to cancel the planned multiplayer for the sequel.

The cancellation was particularly puzzling because the game was never officially announced or shown to the public – fans didn’t even see a single screenshot or learn how it would play. Now, though, a former director from Naughty Dog, who led the project, has finally explained what happened.

A Pandemic Boom and a Post-Pandemic Bust

Vinit Agarwal began working at Naughty Dog in 2014, helping to create games like Uncharted 4, The Lost Legacy, and The Last of Us Part II. In 2016, he took on a new challenge: leading the development of a large, independent multiplayer game set within the world of The Last of Us.

This mystery game was highly anticipated for years, but it was never released. Recently, Agarwal explained on the Lance E. Lee Podcast exactly why the project was suddenly cancelled.

The developer had been working on the multiplayer game for almost seven years and planned to fully announce it on December 15, 2023. Unfortunately, the project was canceled just about a day before the planned reveal.

“It was so crushing,” Agarwal explained. “I was the director of the game, and honestly, finding out that it was getting canceled 24 hours before it was announced to the public was just unfortunate. And they had to do that to control the messaging.”

Agarwal explained that the project failed mainly because the gaming industry changed in 2022. The industry had boomed during the COVID-19 pandemic, with many people turning to online games while staying home, but that growth began to slow down.

After almost seven years of work, a multiplayer game was canceled just one day before its planned announcement on December 15, 2023.

Like other companies in the industry, Sony invested heavily in online gaming, and this included a significant funding increase for the standalone multiplayer game based on ‘The Last of Us.’ According to Agarwal, the game was already quite far along – around 80% complete – and development was going well.

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As the pandemic eased and more people went back to the office, interest in online gaming dropped quickly. This unexpected shift forced Sony to make a difficult choice. According to Agarwal, they had to decide whether to finish the game they were currently working on or prioritize the next project led by Neil Druckmann, the company’s president. The outcome was a natural consequence of that decision.

That explains why The Last of Us Part II won’t be getting a multiplayer mode – and highlights how tough the game development industry can be for those who work in it.

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2026-04-02 23:09