The Last of Us Online’s Cancellation Made “Some Heads Roll”

During a recent episode of the Friends per Second podcast, it was revealed by Journalist Jason Schreier that Naughty Dog’s now cancelled The Last of Us online title was a lot bigger than previously thought. According to Schreier, the game was in development for around four years with “a team in the hundreds” before it was eventually shut down. Additionally, he revealed that the cancellation of the title “made some heads roll at Sony,” alluding to the fact that layoffs were made following it.

“Naughty Dog factions game was in development for something like 4 years, with a team in the hundreds,” he said. “Like that is an expensive proposition for something that was a miss, and by that, I mean that project like getting cancelled was not a bloodless endeavor; there were some heads rolling at Sony as a result of that one.”

Naughty Dog announced the cancellation of The Last of US online title in a statement last year. In the statement it noted that “to release and support The Last of Us Online [it’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.”

Details for the latest game in the series The Last of Us Part II Remastered:

Native PS5 enhancements

Built for the PS5, The Last of Us Part II Remastered enhances the original PS4 game in ways not possible before. Visual performance now includes native 4K1 output in Fidelity Mode, 1440p upscaled to 4K in Performance Mode, and an Unlocked Framerate option for TVs that support VRR. The Last of Us Part II Remastered also includes improved load times to let you jump right back into the action. Descriptive Audio and Speech to Vibrations have also been added to The Last of Us Part II Remastered’s suite of accessibility features.

No Return – A roguelike survival mode

Experience deep combat via an entirely new mode! Survive as long as you can in each run as you choose your path through a series of randomized encounters featuring different foes and memorable locations from throughout The Last of Us Part II, all culminating in tense boss battles.

Unique gameplay modifiers can offer new and unexpected challenges as you fight to succeed – and survive – in a host of different encounter types. Play as a variety of characters including never-before-playable characters like Dina, Jesse, Lev, Tommy and more,2 each with unique traits to offer different playstyles, and unlock skins for them as you progress to use in the mode.

New ways to play

Delve deeper into this beloved adventure and learn how the original game was created. Lost Levels let you explore early-development versions of three new levels not seen in the original The Last of Us Part II: Sewers, Jackson Party and Boar Hunt. Enjoy hours of new developer commentary about The Last of Us Part II’s development as you experience the game.

Live up to your musical potential with Guitar Free Play, which includes new instruments2, or take on the new Speedrun Mode2 and post your best times. Take incredible Photo Mode shots with additions like dynamic lighting, Frame Forward, and Gaze Direction, as well as new frame and logo options.

The Last of Us Part II Remastered also features brand new unlockable character and weapon skins for players to use for both Ellie and Abby.

Graphical improvements and full DualSense™ wireless controller support

The beautiful yet dangerous world of The Last of Us Part II Remastered is brought to new life on the PS5. This version features increased texture resolution, increased Level-of-Detail distances, improved shadow quality, animation sampling rate, and more. The Last of Us Part II Remastered also makes full use of the DualSense wireless controller’s haptic feedback and adaptive triggers to allow every weapon to feel distinct and convey an increased sense of presence in your surroundings as you explore the snowy mountains of Jackson and the rain-drenched city streets of Seattle.

Stay tuned at Gaming Instincts via Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, and Facebook for more gaming news.