If what they're saying is true, that it looked like they had to use so many resources to support the game it would fundamentally change them into a live services studio from a narrative driven single player studio, then I'm glad they took this decision.
In ramping up to full production, the massive scope of our ambition became clear. 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. So, we had two paths in front of us: become a solely live service games studio or continue to focus on single-player narrative games that have defined Naughty Dog’s heritage.
Played the shit out of tlou multiplayer. It felt like something that got added to the game with little effort or creativity and it came out amazing. When TLOU2 was released I was saddened to hear that there would be no multiplayer yet but that it was coming. It didn't need to be much. It could have been the same multiplayer experience with some new maps. Uncharted3 and uncharted 4 multiplayer was great. The community really made the multiplayer what it was. That's where NickEh30 started making content I loved watching SanchoWest on YouTube going over some of his favorite plays.
Really sucks that companies get away with this "we'll finish out the game after the release" and there's no consequence. It was promised.
Sad that corporations don't do alot of split screen coop games like before, yeah there are solutions like universal split screen or nucleus coop but they are windows exclusive
Yeah I wasn't looking forward to a last of us live service game. I'm glad Sony didn't grab them by the balls and pushed more on this as I'm sure they'd jump at the opportunity to have a cash cow live service on their hands.
It did look like naughty dog was having a tough time with this one seeing how we've had no updates on it despite being in development for 4 years? Certainly didn't feel like their hart was in it. I hope this is a weight off their shoulders and now can focus on the next project.
Oh well. Even though it has been years since I played The last of us online and the normal game, it still kind of is sad seeing that online is going away. Was kind of fun.