The Last Of Us Online Director Claims It Was In The Works For Seven Years – Starting When Overwatch Launched

Some surprising new revelations have just come out about The Last Of Us Online, that changes the narrative about the game, Naughty Dog, and Sony’s live service push.

Naughty Dog cancelled The Last Of Us Online in 2023. Jason Schreier claimed in a podcast that the game was in development for four years before cancellation.

The Last Of Us Online director Vinit Agarwal left Naughty Dog and moved to Japan to form a new game studio. Vinit has resurfaced in a new interview.

As covered in ResetERA, he revealed that The Last Of Us Online was actually in development for seven years, and it was 80 % completed before it was cancelled.

Vinit also claimed that it was an experimental title, and that Naughty Dog made the announcement without telling him first.

Sony announced plans to make 10 live service games all the way back in 2022. But Vinit claims they started making The Last Of Us Online in 2016, the year Overwatch released.

That means Naughty Dog was interested in the live service space since the genre started, and the game might not have been what we all expected it to be.