The Last of Us Online is one of the games that Sony Interactive Entertainment discontinued in 2023 for reasons that are not fully understood. Publicly, this decision has been framed as a strategic shift away from service-oriented games due to challenges in sustaining them. However, this perspective was recently questioned by Shuhei Yoshida, who recently retired after 31 years of dedicated service at Sony, and frequently discusses industry insights from his career experiences. In an interview on the ‘Sacred Symbols+’ podcast, Yoshida, formerly the President of PlayStation’s Worldwide Studios, revealed that The Last of Us Online was canceled primarily because Naughty Dog did not anticipate the workload required to maintain it.
It was actually the Bungie studio (known for Halo and Destiny) that made Studio X aware of the implications of developing such a game, including the significant ongoing energy required even after release. This realization would have necessitated part of the studio’s team to continuously work on it, potentially jeopardizing the production of “Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet.” As a result, the decision was made to end the project, mutually agreed upon between Naughty Dog and Sony. Shuhei Yoshida used this anecdote to explain that not all service games are mandated by studio orders but sometimes studios themselves, inspired by a constantly evolving market, wish to explore this niche area. This was the case with Naughty Dog, which apparently underestimated the task involved… According to Shuhei Yoshida, it is unfortunate that “The Last of Us Online” was a great game in his opinion.
