The Last of Us Online Was Not a ‘Side Project,’ Majority of Intergalactic’s Team Came Over After Multiplayer Game Was Scrapped
Naughty Dog’s cancelled multiplayer title, The Last of Us Online, was significantly more substantial than initially portrayed. According to Bloomberg journalist Jason Schreier, the project commanded the resources of the majority of Naughty Dog’s studio, rather than serving as a minor side venture. The standalone Factions sequel was positioned as a major release and received substantial development focus from the California-based team.
The project’s cancellation in late 2023 had cascading effects on the studio’s development roadmap. Following the shutdown, most of the team that had been working on The Last of Us Online transitioned to Naughty Dog’s next major project, Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet. This resource reallocation explains a significant gap in Naughty Dog’s release schedule—the studio has not launched a brand new game since 2020, a notably lengthy development drought for a major AAA studio.
The revelation underscores the substantial investment Naughty Dog had made in The Last of Us Online, contradicting earlier characterizations of it as a secondary project. The game’s failure to launch and the subsequent reallocation of its development team to Intergalactic highlights how unexpected project cancellations can reshape a studio’s output and timeline, leaving players waiting years between major releases from one of the industry’s most acclaimed developers.