Late last year, Ramen VR announced that they will bring some major changes to Zenith: The Last City. Now, there’s a new devblog breaking down some of the changes and why they’re happening, along with a closed pre-alpha coming this weekend.
The Last of Us Online Devs Tease their Canceled Game: ‘It Was the Highlight of My Career’
17.12.2023 - 14:21 / wccftech.com / Jason Schreier / Neil Druckmann / Last Of Us
The fate of The Last of Us Online hung in the balance for a long while, with mixed signals being sent from Sony and Naughty Dog. It all started before the launch of The Last of Us Part II when it was announced that there would be no Factions multiplayer mode like in the original game.
Shortly afterward, though, the developer teased that it was simply because the studio's ambition and scope for the project was far greater than what could be allowed by a mere multiplayer mode. As such, a standalone The Last of Us Online game would be produced instead.
Naughty Dog subsequently went silent until June 2022, when writer and franchise director Neil Druckmann hyped it up with an interview at the Summer Game Fest.
They've been working on it for the past two years, and the ambition has grown. This game is big. It's as big as any of our single-player games and in some ways bigger. It's got a story. The way we're telling that story is very unique to this game. It's got a brand new cast of characters. It takes place in another part of the United States. It's being headed by veterans of Uncharted and The Last of Us. You're going to see a lot more of this game, come next year.
In January 2023, Druckmann once again talked about The Last of Us Online, calling it the 'most ambitious project ever made by Naughty Dog' and suggesting a cooperative focus for the game. As late as this March, the studio's Head of Creative told fans they could expect lots of information to be shared later in 2023.
However, in late May, Naughty Dog publicly stated this standalone game had been delayed due to needing more time. Shortly after the announcement, Jason Schreier revealed a different story: The Last of Us Online had received a negative evaluation by Bungie (purchased by Sony partly because of their live service expertise), which led to a 'reassessment' of the project's feasibility.
Two months ago, a report from Kotaku about layoffs for 25 Naughty Dog contract workers also said the multiplayer project was essentially on ice, leading fans to believe the worst. However, Game Director Vinit Agarwal wrote on Twitter in early November that The Last of Us Online was still in development.
The rollercoaster finally ended this Friday when Naughty Dog formally pulled the plug on the game. The official story is that while the project got more refined and exciting as time went on, the studio was faced with the choice of either allowing The Last of Us Online to impact (read: severely slow down) the development of future single player games since it would have to be updated for years to come or cancel the game and go back to making single player experiences. They picked the latter.
However, following the public statement, there has been a downpour of
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mmorpg.com
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gamingbolt.com
18.12.2023 / 12:53
The Last of Us Online Was “the Highlight of My Career” – Technical Designer
After several years in development, Naughty Dog recently confirmed that it has officially ended development on The Last of Us Online, and in the wake of the developer’s cancellation, a number of developers who worked on the project have taken to social media to talk about their experience with the game- and it all seems overwhelmingly positive.
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17.12.2023 / 02:07
Zenith: The Last City's Developers Discuss Vision For 2.0 Version, Announce Alpha Playtest
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rockpapershotgun.com
16.12.2023 / 16:17
Naughty Dog cancel The Last Of Us Online while teasing new single player projects
Naughty Dog have officially stopped development of The Last Of Us Online, a multiplayer game based on their celebrated McCarthyite (no, not that McCarthy - I mean the novelist) post-apocalyptic action-adventure. Announced in the dusty days of 2018 as a multiplayer mode for The Last Of Us: Part 2, it evolved into a standalone experience with new characters and a new setting, but Sony reportedly scaled the project back earlier this year. Naughty Dog have now formally called it quits, stating that supporting a live service project such as this would have “severely impacted” future single-player game projects. Sony never locked down platforms for The Last Of Us Online, but a PC release was surely on the cards, though I would have expected the game to launch first on PlayStation, as with the original Last Of Us and Uncharted 4.
pushsquare.com
16.12.2023 / 15:20
The Day Before Dev Drops Digital Smoke Bomb, Disappears Days After Early Access Launch | Push Square
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gamesradar.com
16.12.2023 / 14:47
The Last of Us Online developers celebrate their canceled game: “it’s absolutely been the highlight of my career”
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gamesradar.com
15.12.2023 / 12:13
Naughty Dog confirms multiple single-player games in development following The Last Of Us Online's cancellation
The Last of Us developer Naughty Dog has confirmed that more than one single-player game is in development at the studio.
techradar.com
15.12.2023 / 10:05
The Last of Us Online canceled as Naughty Dog didn’t want to ‘become a solely live service games studio’
Naughty Dog has confirmed that it has stopped development on its multiplayer The Last of Us title — known as The Last of Us Online — after concerns that it would impact the studio’s future single-player games.
gamingbolt.com
15.12.2023 / 03:35
The Last of Us Online Has Been Officially Cancelled
We’d known for a while now that Naughty Dog was working on a standalone multiplayer Last of Us game, but recent months have raised questions about what state the project is in behind-the-scenes. Reports have claimed that its development team has been scaled back, and that though it hadn’t been completely cancelled, it had been put “on ice”. And though the project’s director confirmed as recently as last month that it was still in the works, that is officially no longer the case.
mmorpg.com
15.12.2023 / 02:55
The Last Of Us Multiplayer Officially Canceled, Naughty Dog Announces
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pcgamer.com
15.12.2023 / 01:01
The Last of Us Online finally cancelled because Naughty Dog thinks it will 'severely impact development on future single-player games'
The Last of Us Online has been cancelled after more than three years in development. Naughty Dog made the announcement today, arguing that the ambitious project would require the studio to pivot entirely to post-launch support (read: a live service future) rather than their raison d'etre: big budget singleplayer narrative adventures.