By Sagar V. Mankar 
Former PlayStation executive Shuhei Yoshida has revealed that Bungie played a crucial role in Naughty Dog’s decision to cancel The Last of Us Online, a standalone multiplayer game for The Last of Us Part II.
Despite Yoshida personally finding the game “great” during playtesting, Bungie’s insights into live service development requirements ultimately convinced Naughty Dog to abandon the project.
In a recent Sacred Symbols+ interview, Yoshida explained:
“The idea for The Last of Us Online came from Naughty Dog and they really wanted to make it. But Bungie explained what it takes to make live service games, and Naughty Dog realized, ‘Oops, we can’t do that! If we do it, we can’t make Intergalactic.’ So that was a lack of foresight.”
This revelation clarifies that Bungie didn’t directly cancel the game as some rumors suggested. Instead, they provided “expertise” that helped Naughty Dog understand the extensive resources required to maintain a successful live service title. The studio, with approximately 400 employees, recognized they couldn’t simultaneously support a live service game while developing their new single-player IP, Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet.
When cancelling the project in December 2023, Naughty Dog explained to Sony that:
“To release and support The Last of Us Online we’d have to put all our studio resources behind supporting post-launch content for years to come, severely impacting development on future single-player games.”
Bungie’s involvement stemmed from Sony’s acquisition of the Destiny developer specifically for their live service expertise. Reports indicate Bungie reviewed The Last of Us Online and raised concerns about its “ability to keep players engaged for a long period of time,” highlighting the fundamental challenge of live service development – not just building the game, but maintaining, balancing, monetizing, and growing it continuously.
The cancellation represents a significant turning point in Sony’s live service strategy. After initially planning over 10 live service titles before March 2026, Sony has scaled back these ambitions following several setbacks, including the massive failure of Concord and recent cancellations at Bend Studio and Bluepoint Games.
For Naughty Dog, the decision allowed them to refocus on what they do best – creating narrative-driven single-player experiences. Their new sci-fi IP, unveiled at The Game Awards, represents the studio’s first new franchise in over a decade.