Things are not going well for developer Naughty Dog. After all, the studio has reportedly received a poor internal review for The Last of Us multiplayer project. Although the game was not cancelled, the project was halted altogether. As a result, the studio was forced to lay off employees.
Let’s start from the beginning. The news was shared by Kotaku. Two sources familiar with the situation at Naughty Dog told the website that the studio announced layoffs internally last week. A total of 25 positions were eliminated, although most of the layoffs were in the Quality Assurance department.
According to Kotaku, this mainly concerns labor contractors. These are external, independent specialists who are appointed for a specific period. It is noteworthy that employees do not receive end-of-service benefits. And that everyone working at the studio is under pressure to “keep the news quiet.”
Naughty Dog is currently working on a multiplayer project for The Last of Us. This game started out as a multiplayer mode in The Last of Us 2, but eventually evolved to the point where it became a standalone title.
Unfortunately, development of the project was halted. Sony has brought in Destiny 2 developer Bungie to evaluate the live service game. However, the studio rated the game negatively. Therefore, the project must be significantly modified. Although according to Kotaku’s sources, hardly any work is being done on it. So the game is pretty much “in the fridge”.
It’s a shame, because The Last of Us already has multiplayer capability. This is already proven by the faction placement in the first game. Countless fans have been anticipating a massive expansion of this mode, but it may not have been that simple.
Will we see the game again? probably. The only question is when…
