'It Killed Me That People Couldn't Play It' — Director of The Last of Us Online Only Found Out It Was Cancelled 24 Hours Before the Public, Says It Was 80% Complete

The manager of The Last of Us multiplayer spinoff has spoken retired connected the “devastating” interaction of its cancellation, which helium lone recovered retired astir 24 hours earlier Sony made it public.

Naughty Dog stopped improvement connected The Last of Us Online successful December 2023, saying it would person needed to enactment each its resources into post-launch contented for years to travel — an attack that would person severely impacted its quality to make aboriginal single-player games, including what we present cognize is Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet.

Vinit Agarwal was crippled manager connected The Last of Us Online, having joined Naughty Dog backmost successful 2014. He worked connected the crippled for astir 7 years, from 2016 to 2023, erstwhile accumulation was unopen down. Afterwards, helium near Naughty Dog to commencement up his ain crippled improvement workplace based successful Japan.

In an interrogation with the Lance E. Lee Podcast from Tokyo, Agarwal spoke openly astir wherefore The Last of Us Online was canceled contempt being “very precise adjacent to done,” blaming it connected a operation of factors including the wide manufacture pullback pursuing COVID lockdowns, and Sony’s consequent reassessment of its unrecorded work push.

“What happened was, during COVID, the crippled manufacture saw a immense maturation due to the fact that everyone was astatine home,” Agarwal began. “So successful 2020, wealth was flooding into the crippled manufacture due to the fact that radical were playing a batch much games each of a abrupt due to the fact that they're astatine home. What other did they person to do?

“Not conscionable that, online games specifically saw a immense boost due to the fact that radical wanted to play with their friends. They couldn't spot their friends, truthful they had to play online with their friends. So online games got a immense boon. So Sony decided to enactment a batch of wealth into online gaming similar everyone other was. And truthful that was portion of wherefore The Last of Us Multiplayer got funding, and we got disconnected the crushed and we made a batch of progress, and the crippled was doing really, truly good internally. We developed it astir to 80% completion. It was precise very adjacent to done.

“But past each the forces that pushed the crippled manufacture successful 2020 were the reasons it started declining successful 2022, 2023. So arsenic radical returned to the office, abruptly radical didn't person arsenic overmuch clip to play games. You know, that spending reduced. The system besides went down. And truthful each that wealth that flooded into the crippled manufacture was not going to beryllium capable to sustain. Because wealth was getting pulled out, they had to besides benignant of illness the spending they'd spent. They overspent basically. They were overzealous.”

Naughty Dog had to marque a prime betwixt The Last of Us Online and single-player escapade Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet, Agarwal said. The decision, arsenic we know, was to spell with Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet.

“And truthful 1 of the casualties of that was this crippled I was directing,” helium said. “Basically, astatine 1 point, a determination had to beryllium made. ‘Okay, marque this crippled oregon marque the adjacent crippled that Neil Druckmann was directing, the president of the company.’ And so, benignant of naturally, you tin recognize what happened there. They had to prime the crippled that was benignant of the soul, breadstuff and food of the studio, alternatively than this experimental crippled that I was moving connected that I judge was going to beryllium truly big, but unluckily couldn't spot the airy of day.”

At this constituent Agarwal revealed the existent interaction The Last of Us Online's cancelation had connected him. He described it arsenic “devastating” and “soul crushing,” not conscionable due to the fact that of however agelong he’d worked connected it, but due to the fact that of however helium recovered retired astir it, and due to the fact that of however idiosyncratic the task was for him.

“That was a devastating infinitesimal for me, due to the fact that I spent 7 years moving connected that game. It was psyche crushing. I was the manager of the game, and to find retired that it was getting cancelled 24 hours earlier it was announced to the nationalist — that's however I recovered retired astir the crippled getting cancelled, and it was conscionable unfortunate. And they had to bash that due to the fact that they had to power the messaging,” helium said.

Warning! Potentially upsetting events are recounted below:

Agarwal went connected to explicate that with The Last of Us Online, helium was trying to recreate the feeling helium experienced during a real-life robbery, during which helium was held up astatine gunpoint.

“This was thing I truly cared about,” helium said. “I had a halfway inspiration for this crippled that drove what happened successful the game. In 2012, I was visiting my person successful Austin, Texas, and I was retired precocious astatine nighttime with 1 of my different friends who was besides visiting with me. And we're coming backmost precocious astatine night, and I was connected the telephone astatine 3 successful the greeting with my woman astatine the time, and I had a camera hanging from my neck. I was similar the eventual tourist. Two guys amusement up down america with shotguns. I crook astir and these guys are pointing shotguns astatine our faces.

“And they're like, ‘Empty your pockets!’ And my buddy starts running. I look down maine and these guys are pointing shotguns astatine me, ‘Like, bare your pockets.’ I was an idiot. I was connected my phone. I had nary hint what was going on. Like, ‘Empty your pockets.’ And I couldn't rather recognize what they're saying due to the fact that they had this confederate accent.

“So I started moving actually, due to the fact that I don't cognize what they want, oregon I thought they were going to sprout me. So I started moving and arsenic I'm moving they tripped maine with a shotgun similar a hockey stick. I fell connected my look and they're like, ‘Empty your f***ing pockets!’ I was like, ‘Okay.’ And I dropped my camera. I dropped my phone. I dropped everything. And they're like, ‘Get the f**k retired of here!’ And I was like, ‘Okay.’ I ran and I recovered my person and we flagged down a car and we called the cops, and they couldn't bash thing astir it due to the fact that those guys were already gone.

“It felt similar you were going to die. That was a frightening moment. The happening that was bittersweet astir it was, these guys were holding up a shotgun for what astatine the extremity of the day? They got my wallet that had similar 30 bucks successful it. You cognize what ended up happening? They utilized my recognition paper erstwhile astatine McDonald's. Then they tried to usage it astatine Walmart and they got rejected and past they ditched it. And the telephone was shattered due to the fact that I dropped it connected the floor. A stateless feline called my member connected my telephone and we got my telephone backmost the adjacent day. They tossed it successful a dumpster.

“And truthful what did they truly get retired of that full engagement? Maybe similar a McDonald's meal. Really that's what they got retired of that engagement, and yet they did it due to the fact that they were hopeless I presume.”

This, combined with different mugging incidental successful Brooklyn, formed the “core thesis” of the crippled Agarwal was gathering astatine Naughty Dog.

“I wanted radical to get that feeling. It takes spot successful The Last of Us universe. It was a multiplayer crippled acceptable successful the aforesaid beingness arsenic The Last of Us. The Last of Us is simply a post-apocalyptic satellite wherever radical perchance hunt each different for food, for a small spot of supplies. And it's benignant of similar what those guys did to me, wherever they rob maine for fundamentally a McDonald's meal. And truthful that consciousness of desperation that comes retired of that, and what you’re consenting to bash erstwhile you’re desperate, and the dehumanizing constituent of it wherever you're gonna astir hunt idiosyncratic similar an carnal for the scraps. And erstwhile they pursuit you, they're retired for blood. They volition pursuit you to the extremity of the satellite to get that food,” helium explained.

“The extremity of the crippled was to scavenge supplies, and 1 of the champion sources of supplies is to termination the different player, right? And I retrieve this experience, I was playing a truly aboriginal mentation of the game, and idiosyncratic was shooting astatine maine and I hid down a table. And they're looking for maine and they didn't spot me, and they near the room. I reloaded my weapon and they perceive maine reloading my gun, and they travel backmost into the country and past I'm like, s**t, and I leap retired the model and they're chasing maine and I'm moving done the corridors and worldly similar that and I duck successful immoderate grass, due to the fact that it's an overgrown satellite due to the fact that it's 25 years successful the future. And I'm similar successful the writer hiding and they're looking for me, and they're similar walking close adjacent to the writer and they can't spot me.

“And it's this infinitesimal I felt of ducking successful that stoop and feeling similar they're moving around. They're looking for maine and it felt truthful authentically similar that moment. I was like, ‘Wow, this is powerful.’ It was therapy for me.

“It was specified a personally meaningful task to me, that it killed maine that radical couldn't play it. Despite reaching fundamentally the apical of the crippled industry, being a crippled manager astatine 1 of the champion crippled companies successful the world, I thought to myself, the lone amended happening I tin bash is to marque my ain company.”

Naughty Dog went connected to denote Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet astatine The Game Awards 2024, its archetypal caller franchise successful implicit a decade. Last year, speaking to Sacred Symbols+, erstwhile PlayStation enforcement Shuhei Yoshida said feedback from Destiny developer Bungie, which Sony had acquired, helped to person Naughty Dog to scrap The Last of Us multiplayer.

“The thought for The Last of Us Online came from Naughty Dog and they truly wanted to marque it,” Yoshida said. “But Bungie explained [to them] what it takes to marque unrecorded work games, and Naughty Dog realised, ‘Oops, we can’t bash that! If we bash it, we can’t marque Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet.’ So that was a deficiency of foresight.”

This tallies with anterior reports that indicated Naughty Dog had scaled backmost improvement of The Last of Us Online owed to an interior reappraisal from Bungie. In October 2023, Naughty Dog reportedly suffered a circular of layoffs and that the multiplayer task was “put connected ice."

Wesley is Director, News astatine IGN. Find him connected Twitter astatine @wyp100. You tin scope Wesley astatine [email protected] oregon confidentially astatine [email protected].